The Return of the Spirits
by kojiluvr
Summary: follow on of frontier when katsuharu and co join the group and koji and koichi have a sister and there are more than 10 legendary warriors. It's only rated K plus because of some swearing in the chapters.
1. Prolouge

Ken Ichijogi pounded down the street digivice in hand. Reaching the station just before the doors closed, he leaped onto the train. _I have to warn them!_ He collapsed on the nearest un-inhabited seat, gasping for breath. It was a long run from his house down to the station, especially when carrying Wormmon. Ken had just returned from soccer practice (which he excelled at even without the dark spore) when he had received a mysterious email. "_DigiDestined. It is beginning once again, except this time, you will not be victorious. Meet me at the Flame Terminal for a small sample of what you will be up against."_ The train jerked to a stop and Ken stood up. If they were going to fight this battle, then there was no time to waste. Ken slowed down as he came to Davis's house, once again, gasping for breath. "Ken? Are you alright?" Ken grinned at his partner. "I'm fine. Just a little out of breath." After a few deep breaths, Ken rung the doorbell. It was Davis's older sister, June, who answered. "Sorry to bother you, but is Davis home? It's kind of urgent." June looked over her shoulder. "Davis! Your friend's here!" Davis opened the door of his room. "Ken. What're you doing here?" "I'll tell you in a minute." Ken replied pushing past June and walking into Davis's room. "So what's up?" Ken opened his computer and showed him the email. After Davis read the email, he looked up at Ken. "Who could it be?" Ken shook his head. "No idea." Davis groaned. "And I thought that we'd have a nice, **relaxing** time in the digital world from now on, but not even a year after Oikawa, it starts again." "I know how you feel. Come on. We'd better warn the others."

The original DigiDestined along with Kari, TK, Yolei, Cody and their digimon arrived. Ken had forwarded the email on to all of them, explaining what was happening. "We have to go to the digital world." cried Matt. "There are friends of ours there!" Tai nodded. "I agree. And this guy can't be worse than any of the others we've faced, right?" "Right!" The others agreed. "Then we're all agreed," said Yolei. "Should we go now?" Izzy nodded. "The original digital world time has been restored so we won't be missed. Now is the perfect time." Kari walked over to the computer. "Right then. Let's go! Digiport open!"

Ken looked around and saw the familiar landscape of the Flame Terminal. "So where is this guy? He hasn't chickened out has he?" Davis scornfully commented. "Somehow I doubt it." Replied Veemon. "Why's that?" asked Cody. Armadillomon gasped. "Maybe because Merukemon's firing at us!" They all stared in amazement. "But-but that's impossible!" Sora whispered. "Merukemon is a good digimon!" "Well someone had better tell him that!" cried Biyomon. "Cuz he looks anything **but** good at the moment." "We can't beat this guy!" exclaimed Ken. "Of course we can! Have you forgotten? We have four mega levels on our side!" Mimi said before spotting what Ken saw. "What the- how is it possible?" They stared in astonishment at what they saw. "Its-it's a… control spire!"

"But we destroyed all of the control spires! How can they be back?!" asked TK. Ken was staring in horror at his old invention made to stop digimon evolving. "Someone must have re-created them!" "Then we've no chance of defeating him!" Merukemon was now almost on top of the group and was looking more menacing than ever. "Gale claw!" The group were swept backwards towards the cliff. "Another hit like that and we're done for!" cried Joe. "We can't give up! Come on Gatomon!" cried Kari. "Right! Gatomon Armour Digivolve two… Gatomon?" "What happened Gatomon?" By this stage Merukemon was right in front of them. "My master was familiar with that trick of yours so he made a few modifications to these control spires." He growled. "You have no chance of defeating me now. Gale claw!" The attack was closer range and so buffeted the group. Ken and Matt were sent flying into the rocks, off one of which Matt hit his head, knocking him out. "Matt! Wake up!" cried Ken, looking worriedly at the advancing digimon. "You will become servants of the darkness!" he growled. "Just surrender now!" "Never!" Yelled Cody. "Yea! We'd rather die than join you!" cried Joe. "I think you'll see things differently in a minute." He growled taking out a small, glass sphere which Ken recognised immediately. "Guys! Get out of there! That's a control sphere!" But it was too late. Merukemon threw it and it broke over the gang's heads, casting a purple smoke over them. Grabbing Matt, Ken ran for the nearest monitor. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw the red eyes of his now brainwashed friends. "Digiport open!" he leaped into the portal and back to the human world. _I'm sorry, guys._

"**_What?!_**" Matt had recently woken up with a major headache and Ken was explaining what had happened. "Yeah. Their all under Merukemon's control now." Matt stood up. "We have to go back for them!" Ken pushed Matt back down onto the bed. "Even if we did, we wouldn't stand a chance. I'll bet Merukemon will give them some ability so that their digimon will be able to digivolve to fight us and they will while their under the control sphere's influence! Wormmon and Gabumon won't stand a chance!" Matt gave in. "I guess you're right. But we can't just do nothing! They're our friends! We have to help them!" "Well, we can't do anything about it, but I think I know who can." Matt looked up at him. "Who?" "You remember about five weeks ago those kids who could turn into digimon defeated Lucemon?" Matt nodded. "How could I forget? That dragon-like digimon almost entered our world." Ken nodded. "They should still be able to digivolve and they would do pretty much anything to save the digital world. I know the two brothers, Koji and Koichi Minamoto. They live near me. I could tell them what's happening and ask for their help!" "But I thought we all swore not to tell anyone that we were the DigiDestined." said Matt, suspiciously. "I didn't and I wouldn't if it wasn't an emergency, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ken rang the Minamoto's doorbell, fidgeting nervously. This was an extremely dangerous mission he was about to spring on the two brothers and he hoped they would be able to handle it. Koichi opened the door. "Oh, hi Ken." He said, surprised. "What are you doing here?" Ken took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you and Koji. It's urgent and it concerns… the digital world."


	2. To the Digital World

Koichi stared in shock at Ken. How did _he_ know about the digital world? Did he used to be at the mercy of Cherubimon or Lucemon as well? Koichi saw Ken fidget and realised how important this must be. "Come on in," he said. "Koji! Come here! Ken needs to talk to us!" Koji came into the room and stood next to Koichi. The similarities of the two boys were amazing. They had the same hair, the same eyes, the same face, the only way you could tell them apart was that Koji always wore his hair in a ponytail with a blue-and-grey camouflage bandana. "Come into our room," said Koichi. "Our mother's not around right now but she could come in at any moment." Ken nodded and followed the twins into the bedroom. "So talk," Koji didn't waste any time getting to the point. "We don't have all day." Ken took a deep breath. "Ok then," and he began.

"First, let me tell you, that I know that you're DigiDestined and that you can change into digimon." "But how-how can you possibly know that?" asked Koji, baffled. "We never told anyone. Are you a spy? Working with some growing evil over there?" Koichi laid a hand on his brothers arm. "Let Ken tell his story before we say anything." He said. Unlike Koji, Koichi was more patient and didn't always look for the worst possible outcome. Ken nodded at Koichi in thanks. "No. I'm not a spy. I also know that that dragon five weeks ago was **no **system glitch. It was a digimon and that you were the ones fighting it. I already told you, Koji, I'm **not** a **spy**! Anyway. I know because I'm a digidestined too." Koji and Koichi stared at Ken in utter shock. "This is my partner, Wormmon. Now, do you remember when all the children went missing about a year ago?" They both nodded. "The capturer was being controlled by MaloMyotismon who was aiming to control the digital **and** human worlds. We stopped him, we being us and the DigiDestined from the rest of the world. But now we need **your** help. Today I got this email and went to the digital world with the original DigiDestined to confront whoever had sent it. It was Merukemon, a mega level. But although we could have fought him as we had four mega levels on our side, the control spires had popped up again, this time also preventing armour digivolving. We had no chance. It was 14 rookies against a mega. Matt and I were swept towards some rocks and Matt hit his head and was knocked out. Merukemon through a control sphere at our friends which caused them to agree to follow his master. I grabbed Matt and teleported back here. We had no chance against them, and how could we fight our friends."

Koji looked at Koichi. "Well, bro?" Koichi looked back at him. "It wasn't long since I was controlled by Cherubimon, and you helped me. We need to help these guys and besides, the digital world could be in danger again. We can't let it be destroyed after all our hard work, can we?" Koji nodded. "True. Ok. We'll help. We need to call the others though." Ken waited as they called Takuya, JP, Tommy and Zoe, breathing a sigh of relief. For a moment he had thought they weren't going to listen, but they were helping. His friends would soon be free.

It wasn't long before a small group was gathered in the twins' room, anxiously listening as Ken once again told his story. Not much had changed about them.

Koji had traded in his blue and grey bandana for a black and white one and still kept his long hair tied back.. He no longer wore a jacket, but a black t-shirt with white stripes running down the sides similar to his older one. He now wore long jeans and still wore his blue and white runners.

His brother Koichi still wore an open shirt and t-shirt, but had gone with Koji's old idea and now the shirt was navy blue and the t-shirt was a light yellow. He wore black pants and a pair of black runners. He kept his hair short, mainly because it was the only way people wouldn't get confused between him and his brother. He only had a small bruise on his forehead as recollection of his terrible fall down the stairs that landed him in the digital world.

Zoe had also traded her original cat-ear hat for a blue hair band. She now wore a blue short-sleeved turtleneck with a light pink t-shirt underneath and pink tracksuit pants and blue school shoes. She had cut her long, blonde hair to shoulder level and dyed it brown and was now wearing it lose with a tiny braid at the front.

JP was wearing another tracksuit, this time red and grey. He had lost a small bit of weight and had started wearing a grey hat.

Tommy was now wearing a smaller yellow hat, black t-shirt and a pair of short jeans with long black socks and a white pair of runners.

Takuya still wore the same hat and goggles as memory of the digital world, but now wore a long sleeved orange shirt and brown pants with orange runners. He had cut his hair a small bit shorter, but still wore it in a spiky style.

They were all in agreement that they should help. "But how are we going to get there? A Trailmon would take too long!" Tommy pointed out. They all looked at Ken who, as if on cue, took out his D-3 and turned towards the computer. "Let's go. Digiport open!"

The group looked around the familiar landscape. It was the first time they had transported to the digital world. It was easy to see where the battle had taken place as the grass was windswept and short where Merukemon had attacked. But Ken's friends were nowhere in sight. Suddenly, Ken heard the familiar sound of ExVeemon and Davis yelling and the two came into view. Ken, who had stiffened, relaxed. There was no sign of the tell-tale red eyes that came with the effects of control spheres. He started to run towards Davis. The others saw something Ken hadn't. Davis had a control sphere in his hand. "Ken! It's a trap!" yelled Zoe. But it was too late. When Ken turned around , Davis threw the sphere at him. "String shot!" Wormmon knocked the sphere out of harm's way and Ken backed away, shocked. He looked up to see if the control spire was still in place. It was. "It's up to you now." He said to the group who nodded. "Right! Execute! Spirit evolution!" "Lobomon!" "Kazemon!" "Korikkakumon!" "Beetlemon!" "Lowemon!" "Agunimon!" Ken stared in wonder at the six warriors who stood before him. Davis grinned and snapped his fingers and from the shadows came Ranamon and Arbormon. "As you can see, it's now a fair fight." He said. The group stared at him in horror. "They've caused two of the other legendary warriors to turn evil again!" cried Agunimon.

"But that's impossible!" cried Korikkakumon. "Yea! We purified them!" said Beetlemon. "Do you want to tell **them **that?" Loweemon growled. "Come on! We have to attack!" They started towards the three digimon, reluctant but certain that they had to fight. "Aqua shot!" "Wood chop!" The group was sent backwards with the force of the attacks. "They're stronger than before!" said Agunimon. "That's an effect of the control spheres, isn't it?" Ken nodded. "It's possible that Merukemon has them under his control. In fact, it's possible that Merukemon's under the control of one of them himself!" "Then that means… we have to fight them all over again!" exclaimed Lobomon, infuriated. "We have to! For their own good!"

Koji felt the wind being knocked out of him as XV-mon's attack hit home and he de-digivolved to be sent flying backwards into the same rocks that Matt and Ken had also been sent into. "He's too strong! We have to beast spirit evolve!" he cried. "I don't think so!" Ranamon yelled, running towards Lowemon. Merukemon had given her a sword with the power to destroy the warriors of light and darkness, but those two alone. She lashed out at him with the sword, which he blocked. It took all his strength not to be knocked over. He could feel his own spirit working along with Lowemon's, but somehow, Ranamon seemed to be doing the same thing. He felt his spirit project and to his astonishment, Ranamon's spirit projected as well! He saw a young girl, possibly his age with long, dark hair and blue eyes. _She looks just like Koji and I!_ He realised with a jolt. The spirit disappeared back into Ranamon and Lowemon jumped backwards. "How is it possible?" Ranamon raised her sword, once again, this time to the sky. "Waterfall Storm!" Torrents of rain fell from the sky, buffeting the group. "Koji!" Lowemon ran forwards, pushing Koji out of the way just as a downpour hit him. They were both hit and collapsed, weakened by the powerful water. Koichi fell back and de-digivolved. He stared at Ranamon. "Who are you?" She smirked. "Surely you know? Didn't you realise it when our swords clashed?" Koichi shook his head, although he remembered the strange sensation that coursed through his veins. "You're… you're human…" Ranamon nodded. A sudden spasm came over her and she fell to her knees. "Koichi, help… me…" It was not Ranamon's harsh, high-pitched voice, but the quiet, scared voice of a child. Another spasm came over her and she collapsed completely.


	3. Ranamon: Friend or Foe?

Koichi stood up and looked around. Aside from him and Ken, everyone was out cold, and Ken was fending off Davis whilst trying to reason with him. "Koichi?" He looked at Ranamon. The voice seemed different, filled with anticipation and a tiny bit higher, but he still held out his hand. "Who are you?" he asked once again. Ranamon smirked and grabbed his hand, pulling him down. He lay stunned for a moment and began to get back up. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Koichi looked up and saw the hilt of Ranamon's sword less than two inches away. He stopped, feeling anger boiling up inside him. "Who are you?!" he cried keeping a wary eye on the sword. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You should have!" She said, advancing. "You who said the exact same words to Koji as Duskmon. He didn't have a clue either." Koichi gulped. The sword was coming ever closer and all but Ken, who was now pinned down by Davis, were out cold. "I'm your sister, Kijai."

Koichi gasped. "It's true. Our mother never wanted me. I was born a week after you and Koji. She was so disappointed. She hated the thought of having a daughter and gave me away the first chance she got. My foster parents hated me. They were only in it for the money and told me every day that as soon as I turned eighteen, I was out of there. Then I got a strange email that told me about a world where I could leave all of that behind me. So I came and met Merukemon. He told me everything about you and I wanted revenge. Revenge for our mother wanting you more than me. And Merukemon gave it to me. He offered me two spirits that would give me enough power for the revenge I seeked for so I took the chance." Koichi stared at her. "It's-it's not possible!" he stammered.

Koji opened his eyes and looked up to see Ranamon advancing on his brother. "No!" He forced himself to stand and hit out at Ranamon, unbalancing her in surprise. He held out his hand to help Koichi up. "You okay?" To his surprise, Koichi didn't take his hand, but continued to stare at Ranamon, an expression of utmost astonishment on his face. "Koichi, what's wrong?" Koichi looked up at him. "She's our sister!" Koji looked up at Ranamon who was now picking herself up. No wonder she was so much stronger! She not alone had two digimon spirits but a human one too! "Our… sister!" he gasped. He looked at Koichi. "What are we going to do?" Koichi stood up. "There's really only one thing we **can** do." he said. "We have to purify her." Koji nodded, feeling a new power coursing through his veins. Koichi felt it to. For a moment they were perfectly synchronised. In movement, in thought, even in heartbeats. "Let's do it." They grabbed their digivices. "Execute! DNA spirit evolution! Lakutemon!" They looked at themselves. "We're in the same body!"

Ken broke out of Davis' grip and ran over to Lakutemon. "You DNA spirit evolved. Your close bond gave you extra power and allowed you to spirit evolve again, making you one and the same! This makes you twice as powerful!" Lakutemon nodded and turned towards Ranamon. "I'm sorry for this Kijai!" he cried. "Dark torrent!" Ranamon was easily knocked off her feet when the attack hit. "Light canon!" This time, she was hit hard enough for her fractal code to appear. "Unwilling slave of evil," Lakutemon whispered. "Our digivice will purify you! Fractal code, Digitise!" A shriek of pain came from Kijai as the spirits of Ranamon and Calmaramon separated and were scanned, but nonetheless, Lakutemon kept going. As the last traces of the evil water legendary warrior disappeared, Kijai collapsed.

Koji and Koichi de-digivolved and ran over to Kijai. She had landed face down so they didn't see her properly until she stood up. Koji took a step forwards. "Is it true? Are you our sister?" Kijai slowly turned to face them. They were taken aback at how alike they all were. She nodded. "It's true." She looked up at them and they could see tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm so sorry!" She ran up and hugged them and for once, even Koji returned the hug. "Merukemon has some type of attack that makes the victim want to believe all he's saying," she said, drying her eyes. "He used it on me. It was more effective than usual because I was lonely and confused but everything I already told you when I was Ranamon is true." They looked up as they heard a slow, loud clapping. Davis had been watching the whole reunion, leaving Arbormon to battle Ken and Wormmon. "This is all very touching, but it just won't do. ExVeemon!" ExVeemon who had been waiting in the shadows for Davis' signal grabbed Kijai. "Put her down!" Yelled Koji. "Execute…. Ugh!" ExVeemon hit out at him and sent him flying before he could spirit evolve again. Davis laughed as if highly amused. "The only way you'll save her is by surrendering yourselves!" he said. "Consider it. I'll be in the underground cave centre until dark." He then turned and walked away.

Koichi ran over to Koji. "You okay?" Koji grimaced and pushed himself up. "Never been better." By now, Takuya and the others were beginning to come around. "Should we tell them?" Koichi considered it. "No. If Davis was serious, then we know our only option, and their bound to try to stop us by following us. If Davis spotted them, we'd never see Kijai again." Koji nodded. "Fair enough." Ken ran over to them. "How was your first DNA spirit evolution?" Takuya and the others overheard. "What's DNA spirit evolving, and how'd you guys get it first?" Koji looked at Koichi and raised his eyebrows. "Ranamon was about to destroy me and Koji saved me. I guess he had the power for both of us." Ken shook his head. "DNA spirit evolving doesn't work like that. What generally happens is that your both in danger or something drastic happened like you found out someone we thought was evil was actually good and you weren't strong enough to save them." Koichi blushed and Koji lost some of his colour. Ken didn't know how close he was to guessing the **real** cause of the sudden evolution. Luckily for them, Tommy gave a loud yawn and Ken realised that the sun was about to go down. "We'd better get some sleep." He said. "I'll take first watch." Koji and Koichi made beds as far away from the others as possible without being noticed. It wouldn't do for one of them to wake up and follow the two brothers!

As soon as the others were sound asleep (which wasn't very long), the two brothers got up and walked over to Ken. "There's something we have to do," Koji said slowly handing him a note. "Don't open this 'til morning or you could all be in danger." Ken looked at the two, then nodded and put the note in his pocket. "I don't know what's going on here, but I realise you have to do it alone." Koichi nodded and they took off into the woods, running as it was almost dark.

Koji took a deep breath. "You ready to… surrender? God, I never thought I'd ever say those words." "You're right." Koichi agreed. "But we have to do this." Koji nodded and they walked out of the tunnel and into the centre. At once, a digimon ran and blocked every exit, and yet the boys did nothing. "Well, I was beginning to lose hope that you'd ever come!" Davis cackled. "Have you come to surrender or fight?" Koichi looked up at him. He was perched on a small ledge a metre above ground. "Surrender." He said in a quiet voice. Davis laughed. "Look at the two bravest warriors, now so meek and scared because of little, old me!" Koji lost his temper. "You call us scared? How dare you, you coward! It's blackmail and you know it!" "Ah, ah, ah! We wouldn't want Kijai hurt because of a little tantrum, now would we?" Davis mocked them. Koji glared at him, wishing he could have a go at him, but Kijai was at stake here, and so he subsided. Davis snapped his fingers and Arbormon came out of the shadows and grabbed the two boys who didn't struggle. "Come," said Davis. "Your hell awaits."


	4. Of Water, Light and Darkness

Koji and Koichi followed, prodded along every now and then by Arbormon. They came to a closed door which Davis opened and Arbormon shoved them in. "What about Kijai?" yelled Koichi. "What about her?" asked Davis, looking perfectly innocent. "You promised to set her free!" Koji countered. "Did I?" asked Davis. "Oh, well. Looks like I forgot. And you can't keep a promise you've forgotten, now can you? Arbormon!" Arbormon started to tie the two brothers up, somehow managing to keep hold of the struggling Koji with one hand as he tied Koichi's hands behind his back and then proceeded to do the same to Koji. When he finished, he pushed them down and quickly exited the room, which was then locked and plunged into darkness.

Koichi picked himself up and tried to look for Koji. Although it was so dark that you wouldn't see a wall in time to stop, he felt quite at home. But Koji was the warrior of light and would be considerably weakened by being in that much darkness for too long. "Koji?" He heard a quiet groan come from the other side of the room and made his way over there. "Koji? Are you okay?" Another groan. "Yea. I'm fine." He had barely moved, as if already weakened by the darkness. Koichi sighed and felt something cold against his arm. Of course! He had slipped a pocket knife up his sleeve just before he left the human world. He let it slide out and deftly catching it, began to cut through the ropes binding his hands. As it was pitch black and his hands were behind his back, it was considerably dangerous but nonetheless, after a few attempts, he was free and trying to help Koji. Eventually, he too was free and he sat up, grabbing his digivice. Pressing a side-button, the screen lit up giving a dim light to the small room. In it was a rickety, old table with a jug of water and a glass on it and a small, wooden bench. "You take the bench, Koichi," said Koji. "I'll be fine here." Koichi nodded. "Good idea." He replied. "They'll think whoever's weaker will be the warrior of light and will be on the bench. I'd be weaker in a room full of light, so they mustn't know which one of us is which. We should be able to trick them into thinking I'm the warrior of light and you're the warrior of darkness!" Koji nodded. "All you have to do is look really tired and I'll look normal and they'll think we're… each other!" Koichi grinned, and quickly ran over to the bench as they heard footsteps approaching. "Quick! Hide your d-tector!" he whispered, lying down. Koji extinguished the light and put it in his pocket as the door opened.

A small cry came from the open doorway. "How did they get free? We didn't leave them for more than five minutes!" Davis looked at Koichi on the bench, presuming him to be weakened. "He must be the warrior of darkness," he said to Arbormon, nodding towards Koji. "Get him." Arbormon grabbed Koji, who pretended to struggle valiantly, and doing a good job of it considering him being weakened. Arbormon shoved him along a passageway and pushed him into a room rather like the one in Ophanimon's castle. It contained no shadows, which suited Koji perfectly. After a few minutes, he had regained his full strength and picked up his digivice. "Koichi? Can you hear me?" he spoke into the digivice hoping he was close enough to get a connection. "Yea. Loud and clear," came the reply. "So, how are we going to get out of here?" Koji thought about it for a moment. "Check if anyone's outside your door, and if not, digivolve and break it down. Ready?" "Sure." Koji carefully checked the door. As far as he could tell, no one was out there. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Lobomon! Flash cannon!" The door was easily broken down and he de-digivolved. "Okay, the doors gone and I'm outside now." Came Koichi's voice. "Great. I'll meet you there." Koji replied. "Then we need to find Kijai."

Koji ran around the final corner to see Koichi standing by a broken door. "Any trouble getting out?" Koichi shook his head. "Not even a Numemon as guard." Koji nodded. "Same here. It's a bit odd, but we got out!" Koichi looked away. It shouldn't have been so easy to escape and he knew it. "Come on. Let's find Kijai." They quietly walked down the deserted hallway, keeping to the shadows in case anyone should go along that passageway. Eventually, they came to a closed door with a key in it. Glancing at Koji, Koichi turned the key and opened the door. Cringing at the loud creaking, the two brothers walked inside, digivices at the ready in case of any challengers. They were almost knocked off their feet as a wave of tremendous heat hit them head on. Kijai was lying in the middle of the floor, unmoving. They ran over to her and shook her. Still, she didn't move. "She's the warrior of water," said Koji. "This heat could kill her if it was any warmer!" Koichi nodded and began to lift her up. "We have to get her out of here. Bring her back to the dark room. It's closer and she can have a drink of water there." Koji helped Koichi carry their sister to the dark room where she began to wake up. "Here. Drink this." Koichi said passing her a glass of water. Koji had said he would stay outside to keep guard but Koichi knew he simply didn't like the dark. "Thanks." Koichi looked down at Kijai who had hoisted herself up onto her arm to drink the water. Koichi grinned. "For what? Saving you or the water?" Kijai smiled weakly. "Both." "Um… guys? We've got trouble!" Koichi looked outside the door to see Davis and someone he had never seen before running towards them with Veemon and a Hawkmon.

"I told you they'd be here, Davis!" said the girl. Her pink hair was tied back into a plat and she wore a pair of jeans, a leather jacket and looked as if she might have worn glasses at one stage. "You were right, Yolei. As always!" Davis looked at the two boys. "This is Yolei, our resident computer and physics genius." Koichi glared at them. He knew that they were only brainwashed and not truly evil, but it was hard not to hate them when they had almost destroyed his sister. "That's it! I don't care whether you're really evil or not! You're going to pay for kidnapping our sister!" Koji stared in amazement at his elder brother. He had only seen him so angry once, when a copy of Cherubimon had almost destroyed the other digidestined. "Ready, Koji?" Koji nodded. "DNA Spirit Evolution! Lakutemon!" Yolei looked at the Hawkmon. "Ready?" Hawkmon nodded. "Digi Armour Energise! Holsemon! Fladramon! DNA digivolve two! Fadesamon!" Lakutemon stared at Fadesamon. It was barely half their size and barely looked powerful enough to fight its way out of a paper bag. "Static Flame!" Lakutemon cannoned into the wall. He forced himself up and glared at Fadesamon. "Dark Void!" A dark hole opened just at Fadesamon's feet and he should have fallen straight in, but at the last second, he jumped up and the hole closed without him. "How did you…" Davis laughed. "We are out of your league. There's no way you could beat us alone." "They're not alone." Kijai had entered the hallway without anyone realising it. "Kijai! Get back!" Lakutemon turned towards her, giving Fadesamon an opening. "Static Flame!" Lakutemon hit the ground and they de-digivolved.

Koji hit the ground full on, cringing at the pain in his left arm. He looked up to see Kijai walking towards Fadesamon. "Kijai! No!" Kijai glanced back at him. "I won't let Merukemon and his followers hurt anyone else!" She then turned to face Fadesamon. "Do you hear me? You will **never **hurt them again!" A blinding light surrounded her, causing Davis and Yolei to shield their eyes. A digivice materialised and shot towards Kijai along with a spirit which was then sucked into the digivice. Grabbing the digivice, Kijai nodded at her brothers with a determined look on her face. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her brother stared at her in amazement as her clothes were replaced by soft looking, blue armour. Between her fingers and toes became webbed and her hair shortened at the back. Her mouth became covered with a silvery coloured material and a small tail grew. "Oceanamon!" Koji looked on in awe. "It's the… true power of water!" "Aqua shots!" Fadesamon was pummelled with the oncoming water and was sent flying into a wall. "Waterfall spray!" The powerful spray caused Fadesamon to de-digivolve back into Hawkmon and Veemon. Yolei smirked. "Don't think you can beat us just because you defeated our digimon!" A sudden interruption changed the speed of time itself. Yolei turned in slow motion and blinked. Her eyes, which had been small and dull, went back to their original colour. "Stop it!" It was Ken and the others! Yolei blinked a few more times. Back in the human world, she had been madly in love with Ken and the sight of her crush had broken Merukemon's hold on her. "Ken?" Ken nodded and smiled. "Come back to us, Yolei!" The girl was surrounded by a flash of light and the spell was broken. She ran over to Ken, now wearing her original outfit of a body warmer, t-shirt, red pants, glasses and helmet. She collapsed into Ken's arms. "I'm sorry, Ken." "It's okay now," he comforted and the digidestined could see true caring in his eyes. "You're safe now."

Takuya glared at Davis. "You still want to fight? It's you against nine people and two digimon!" Davis glared back, turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. "Coward." Takuya muttered under his breath before spotting Oceanamon. "Exe… hey!"Koji had bowled him over before he could even finish the word. "Don't you dare fight Oceanamon!" he cried. "It's the true power of water and she's…" Kijai de-digivolved just then and fell to her knees. Koichi ran over to her. "Our sister."


	5. In the Night

Koji walked a little way behind the group in silence. "Woah." Takuya said as Koichi finished explaining what had happened to the rest of them. "So you really just wanted to find your brothers and find out why you were adopted?" Kijai nodded shyly. She wasn't used to much attention and she was still nervous about the group. Suddenly Tommy stopped. "Where are we going now?" he asked. "We can't go back to Flame Terminal. What if Davis snuck up on us during the night? It wouldn't be that hard since there's barely any cover for us to hide in." JP nodded in agreement. "Tommy's right," he said. "We should head for the forest. There'll be more cover there." "All right, then." Ken agreed. He looked at Kijai. "I suppose that you'll be tagging along?" Koji and Koichi nodded. "There's no way we're leaving her behind." Zoe looked at Kijai. No matter how many times she did, the similarities between her and her brothers were unbelievable. She had her long, dark hair pulled back at the front and left loose at the back and was wearing a pale green hat and jacket, which like Koichi, she left open, a purple t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a black pair of converse shoes with small, silver sequins. "Zoe? You are coming, right?" Zoe blinked and realised that she was being left behind. "Hey! Wait up!"

The small group was silent as they left the Flame Terminal, Takuya leading and Kijai straggling behind, looking up every now and then. Koichi went over and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a small hug. "Why do you keep doing that?" Kijai looked at him, confused. "Doing what?" She looked up again. "That! Looking up." Kijai shrugged. "I keep thinking I hear something above us." She said. Koichi looked up, but now the sky was almost blocked out with trees and so he saw nothing and decided that she must have been hearing things. But Kijai was right, for just above them, TK was flying with Davis on Pegasusmon and Kari with Cody on Nefertimon. Even when under the control of the control sphere, Kari would not go out with Davis, nor even let him ride on Nefertimon with her if she could help it. "Takuya seems to be the leader of the group." She commented. "And Kijai is new which will make her vulnerable." Cody nodded. "Should we go in now?" TK shook his head. "We should wait until dark. That way they won't be expecting us." Davis glared at TK. Even though his logic was true, he always felt that Kari liked TK better than him and that made him resentful, especially since he had met Merukemon. TK directed Pegasusmon towards a large tree with thick branches. "The sun's going down and they seem to be stopping here. We can wait here and strike when they're asleep." Davis glared at him again before climbing off. "We won't be seen here." Cody and Kari nodded in agreement. "Then we're all agreed." Announced TK sitting down. "We wait here until dark."

Kijai lay looking up at the night sky. The others had fallen asleep long ago, but she couldn't. She had made her bed as far away from the others as possible. She still didn't feel very comfortable with them, including her two brothers. _I have to talk to someone! Did I really hear anything earlier? Should I wake the others?_ She thought. Eventually, she got up and walked over to Takuya who was taking first watch by the fire. She sat down next to him and stared at the fire. Takuya looked at her. "What's wrong?" Kijai sighed. "Why don't you hate me?" Takuya's eyes widened in surprise. "I tried to destroy you! How am I supposed to make up for that?" Takuya shook his head. "I don't know that you actually can. The others and I will accept you and I definitely do already, and so do your brothers. Why do you think that we'd hate you?" Kijai sighed again. "I just feel so awkward here. It feels like I should be doing something to make up for it and I don't know what." Takuya shook his head. "That's ridiculous." He said. "You were under Merukemon's control, a lot like Koichi used to be under the control of Cherubimon. For your two brothers, you've done everything just by showing yourself." Kijai turned her gaze back to the fire. A cool breeze ruffled a strand of hair lose and she tucked it behind her ear. "Go and get some rest." She said. "I won't sleep any time soon. I'll take the end of your watch as well as my own." Takuya looked at her. "You sure?" Kijai nodded and he stood ur. "You sure?" Kijai nodded and he stood up, yawned and stretched. "Thanks. I owe you one." Kijai smiled faintly. Takuya made to go back to bed, but before he could move more than five steps, TK flew in on Pegasusmon and grabbed him, clapping his hand over his mouth so he couldn't yell. Kijai had leaped up and ran to help, but then Kari came in on Nefertimon and grabbed her in a similar manner to Takuya. "**_Koji! Koichi! We need you!" _**Kijai cried out in her mind, wishing that they could actually hear her.

Koji opened his eyes, wondering what had woken him. He glanced at Koichi who also seemed to be awake. Seeing that Koji was also awake, Koichi pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to the clearing in front of them. The fire had been doused and as Koji listened, he could hear the sounds of the quiet fight. He made to get up but Koichi shook his head. "You're coming with us to Merukemon!" he heard a girl say. Realising that one or more of his friends must be in danger, he sat up to see Kijai wrestling to get out of a girls grip while Takuya was wrestling a boy. Suddenly he felt a large weight on top of him and he heard Koichi give a small cry of surprise. "You will not interfere this time." A voice growled in his ear. "Digmon! Let's go!" "You too, Flamedramon!" Koji felt the digimon jump off of him and he sat up gasping for breath. He glanced at Koji who was doing the same thing. The battle field was empty except for a small piece of paper. Running over to it he picked it up. **Takuya and Kijai are coming with us. See if you can keep up!** Koji showed the note to Koichi who read it and then tore it up in anger. "We have to catch up to them!" Koji nodded in agreement. Then they heard a loud thud and Kijai came out from behind a tree. The two ran over to her. Koichi put his hand on her shoulder and could see that she was shaking. "What happened?" he asked. Kijai looked up at him. "I-I couldn't sleep so I went over and told Takuya that I'd take the end of his watch." He said. "He was about to go back to bed but someone came in on a flying digimon and grabbed him. I tried to help but someone grabbed me too." Koji looked at Koichi. The time he had seen Kijai fighting, she was being pulled onto a digimon by that girl. "How did you get away?" he asked. Kijai smiled weakly. Just as Nefertimon, the digimon she pulled me onto, took off, I bit her hand and jumped off. Koji gave a stifled laugh and Koichi grinned. "But what about Takuya?" Kijai bowed her head and the boys realised what had happened. "Should we wake the others?" Kijai asked, still shivering. Koichi shook his head. "Wait until morning. There's nothing much that we can do in the dark anyway." He looked at Kijai. "Go back to bed. Koji and I will finish up here." Kijai nodded and slowly walked back to bed. "Well, what do we do now?" Koichi asked Koji. Koji looked up. "I don't know," he replied. "But I do know that we have to rescue Takuya and it's not going to be easy."


	6. Crusadermon Again

Kijai blinked her eyes open. It was a warm, sunny day and there was a cool breeze in the air. She was in a pleasant mood for about thirty seconds. Then all the happenings of the night before came rolling back in. She groaned and covered her face with her hands. She had put the whole group in danger just by travelling with them. She quickly made up her mind on what to do. _As soon as we rescue Takuya, I'll leave. They'll be safer that way. _She stood up, stretched and walked over to her brothers. Koichi had dozed off a while before sunrise and Koji had struggled to keep his eyes open, but soon gave way and also nodded off. Kijai grinned, crept over to them and grabbed them by their arms. They both woke with a start and looked around. Seeing that it was only Kijai, they playfully pulled her down. The others began to wake up and the smaller group immediately stood up and brushed grass of themselves. Kijai looked at Koji who nodded and Koichi smiled encouragingly. She took a deep breath and walked over to the others. "We have a problem."

Koichi peeked out from the bush that he and Tommy were in. They were to keep lookout while the others went inside. When Kijai told the story, the group found where Takuya was by tracing his d-tector's signal. Now the others were waiting for Koichi's signal to show that the coast was clear. He quickly glanced around again and seeing nothing, he gave a low whistle and flicked his fingers towards the large, bleak building. Almost immediately, there was a rustling of leaves as the rest of the group leapt out of bushes or down from trees and sprinted for the building. Koichi worriedly glanced around again and then spoke into his d-tector. "No one saw you. If anyone comes, Tommy and I will hold them off as best we can until you get out."

Inside the dark building, Koji put his digivice back into his pocket. Looking around, he nodded to the others. "You heard Koichi. Now let's rescue Takuya!" They moved forward silently. When they came to a fork, Ken, Yolei and Zoe went left and Koji and JP went right. Eventually, the two came to a dead end. "We'd better turn back," said JP, turning around. "You coming?" Koji hadn't moved and was now looking suspiciously at the wall. "One sec." He said and began pressing different parts of the wall. A few minutes later, one of the parts he pressed gave way and the wall parted, revealing a heavy, steel door. With JP's help, the two managed to open the door just enough to go in and out of the room beyond. Inside, Takuya stood, glaring until he realised who it was. "Guys!" he cried, running up to them. Koji nodded in greeting. "We need to get out of here." Takuya and JP nodded in agreement. Running back to the fork, they realised that the others hadn't come back yet. They waited for a few minutes until Koji heard Koichi's voice and took out his d-tector. "Guys! Get out of there now!" Koji gazed at his digivice in horror. "Koichi, what's going on?" Koichi's voice came through again, this time even more panicked. "We couldn't hold them off! It's like an entire army and they're heading your way!" Koji looked up in horror. "Quickly! We have to find the others!"

They sprinted down the hallway, soon locating the others. "Is there another way out that way?" Takuya asked, gasping for breath. Zoe, who had been about to ask him if he was okay, nodded, confused. "A window. Why?" Koji looked back the way they had come. He could now hear growling, yelling and the stamping of feet, and it was growing louder! "That's why!" Zoe nodded and they took off towards the window. As they reached it, they got their first glimpse of the digimon horde. There was about three dozen digimon and more rounding the corner. It was mainly made up of Centaurusmon and Guilmon, but there were a few Renamon and WaruMonzaemon as well. They appeared to be only the lookout because as soon as they saw the group, they turned around and yelled up the hallway. "They're up this way!" Immediately, they heard the sound of possibly hundreds of digimon running their way. Yolei pulled at the window. "Its jammed!" she cried. "I can take care of that!" yelled Hawkmon. "Hurricane Wind!" The window smashed when the attack came into contact with it. The group began to jump out of the window. Finally Koji was the last one. He was about to jump out when a familiar voice caused him to pause. "Stop!" The rushing digimon stopped and turned around, as did Koji. The closest digimon was less than a foot away and would have grabbed him if the voice hadn't stopped it. Koji began to back towards the window, but the digimon, a Renamon, leapt over him, blocking the window. He glared at it and then looked up. The voice was Crusadermon. "Koji. What a pleasant surprise it must be for you to have the chance to look upon my radiant beauty once more." Koji rolled his eyes. She was so full of herself. "Spiral Masquerade!" Koji cried out in surprise as he was grabbed by the yellow sashes, which tightened and pulled him towards Crusadermon. Koichi, who had become worried, ran towards the window and looked in to see why Koji was the only one who hadn't joined him and Tommy. As soon as he saw what was happening`, he grabbed his d-tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Lowemon! Dark Torrent!" The attack surprised Crusadermon and sent her reeling. Quickly lashing out with sword, he cut the sashes binding Koji and grabbed him before he could fall. "Let's go!" he growled. Koji nodded and shook off the loosened ribbon. Leaping out of the shattered window, Lowemon ran to catch up to the others. When he reached them, he let Koji jump down and de-digivolved. Zoe looked at the two confused. "Why were you so long catching up?" Koichi took a few deep breaths and then looked at them. "The Royal Knights are back."

The others stared at him in shock. "What?" Kijai, who had never fought the Royal Knights, wisely didn't say anything. "We could barely defeat them with the power of the ten legendary warriors, and now three of them are evil again!" JP groaned. Kijai walked forwards nervously. "They may not be on our side **now**, but I know how we can get them on our side." Ken looked at her, enthralled. "How?" Kijai blushed under the stares of her friends. "Just after I became Ranamon, four kids and a Patamon were captured. The leader was called… Katsuharu I think." Tommy gasped. When that group had been captured before, Tommy and the others had saved them and they had then returned home. Why did they come back to the digital world? "Merukemon took the girl, Chiaki I think, and locked her and the Patamon somewhere in his cave. He threatened to destroy them if the others didn't agree to take the remaining spirits. So Katsuharu became Mercurymon, Teppei became Grumblemon and Teruo became Arbormon. When they discovered that Merukemon intended them to fight you, they refused, but he through a control sphere at them and they were under his control. From there, they had no choice."


	7. Chiaki and the Return

Zoe looked up at the trees they were passing. The group had decided to split up into four teams to save Katsuharu and the others. Koji, Koichi and Kijai had gone to save Patamon and Chiaki, Ken and Takuya had gone looking for Teppei, JP and Tommy went looking for Katsuharu and she and Yolei were looking for Teruo. Sighing, Zoe looked ahead again, stopping just in time before bumping into Yolei. She pressed a finger to her lips and pointed to an oddly shaped tree just ahead of them. After a second glance, Zoe realised that it was actually Arbormon. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Kazemon!" Quickly locating the control spire, she destroyed it allowing Hawkmon to digivolve. "Hawkmon digivolve two! Aquilamon!" Arbormon, realising that he had been discovered, quickly jumped to action. "Wood chop!" The attack sent Aquilamon reeling backwards. "Hurricane wind!" "Tempest twist!" The attacks barely fazed Arbormon. Kazemon glared at him. "I hope I can still do this! Kazemon, Slide Evolution! Zephyrmon! Hurricane Gale!" This time, the attack sent Arbormon spinning. "Aquilamon! Get him!" Yolei cried. "Blast Rings!" Arbormon was flung to the ground by the force of the attack. His fractal code began to appear. "Zephyrmon, Slide Evolution! Kazemon! This tree is **not** good for Christmas." Kazemon said, walking forwards. "Fractal code, digitise!" Teruo fell to the ground, the evil spirits of wood now gone. Aquilamon and Kazemon de-digivolved and the three ran over to him. "Teruo! Are you okay?" Zoe asked, shaking him. Teruo coughed and shakily stood up. "I'm fine." He replied. "But… what have I done? And where are the others?" Zoe looked at Yolei who spoke. "What you've done doesn't matter now and the others are helping your friends." Teruo nodded and sat down again. "We should camp here for the night." Said Zoe. "The sun's already gone down." Yolei nodded. "Okay then. Let's relax for a while."

Tommy gazed around, taking in his surroundings. They were in a dark valley surrounded by steep cliffs. It was where they had fought Mercurymon for the first time. Almost immediately, Tommy spotted Mercurymon's green body amongst the dark rocks of the valley. JP stiffened as he emerged and walked towards them. "So you finally came." He said, still walking slowly. "Katsuharu! You don't have to do this!" Tommy yelled in anguish. Mercurymon smiled. "I have no idea who Katsuharu is," he replied. "But it's certainly not me. I am Mercurymon." Tommy grimaced. It looked like he would have to fight his old friend. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution! Korikakkumon!" "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Beetlemon!" Mercurymon smiled deviously. "You really expect to defeat me?" He expected no reply and got none, except for attack. "Avalanche axes!" "Lightning blitz!" The attacks sent head on were easily deflected by Mercurymon. "But… how?" Korikakkumon and Beetlemon stood, stunned. Once again, Mercurymon smiled. "Did you **really** think that those meagre attacks would even faze me? I'm disappointed. I expected more from the legendary warriors that Lucemon fell to the mercy of." Korikakkumon growled in anger. "We'll show you the power that he lost to! Ready Beetlemon?" Beetlemon, although seriously confused, nodded, feeling tremendous power coursing through his veins. "Execute! DNA Spirit Evolution! Wirlightmon!" Mercurymon stared in astonishment at the warrior before him. He had heard of Lakutemon, but he never thought that the others would soon learn the skill of DNA digivolving! Overcoming his shock, he attacked, trying to size up his opponent. Wirlightmon was still the original size of the two warriors (not combined) and simply had some of Korikakkumon and Beetlemon's strongest features plus a small tail and a  
sword. Mercurymon grinned secretively. He felt that it wouldn't take much to defeat the new warrior. "Dark Reflection!" A large, black orb was sent flying in Wirlightmon's direction. He easily deflected it using his sword and it was sent towards some rocks which immediately smashed. Mercurymon stared in astonishment at the broken rocks. A small bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. "Avalanche Strike!" A beam of ice-covered lightning came shooting towards him. "Dark Reflection!" But his ultimate move had no affect for the second the move came into contact with his mirror, the mirror shattered. Mercurymon gave a cry of pain and shock. "Avalanche Strike!" This time his only chance was to counter the attack with his other mirror. "Dark Reflection!" His attack was bounced off of Wirlightmon's as it shot forwards, hitting his other mirror and shattering it. Giving another cry of pain, Mercurymon collapsed and his fractal code appeared. Wirlightmon de-digivolved and Kumamon walked forwards. "I never did like thermometers. Fractal code, digitise!"Mercurymon gave a cry of pain once again as he was elevated into the air and the spirits of metal were sucked into his d-tector. Katsuharu fell and hit the ground lightly, considering the height he was at. Tommy de-digivolved and ran over to him. He stood up shakily and looked around. "Tommy… what have I done?" Tommy closed his eyes for a moment, wishing that he didn't have to answer. "You've done a few bad things, but it wasn't your fault. And now isn't the time to beat yourself up about it." Katsuharu nodded and stood up. "Where are the others? Teppei, Teruo, Chiaki and Patamon?" Tommy shook his head. "I don't know, but the others are looking for them." He took out his d-tector. "Guys, Katsuharu is back. Any progress with the rest?" Zoe's voice came in first. "Teruo is back to normal too." Koji's report came next. "We're outside Merukimon's cave and we're about to go in." Finally, Takuya's voice came through as well. "We haven't found Teppei yet, but we're not giving up!" Tommy nodded and put his digivice back into his pocket. He looked at Katsuharu. "Looks like they'll be fine," he looked to JP. "Should we stay here or go towards where Zoe is?" JP, who was now over the fact that Zoe didn't like him, chose the practical option. "Stay here. Katsuharu, you're still weak and we all need to rest. We can head towards the forest in the morning." Tommy nodded and sat down. They were in for a long night in the rocky valley.

Takuya put his d-tector back into his trouser pocket and sighed. "I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever find Grumblemon." He complained to Ken. The older boy raised his eyebrows. "I assumed that you were someone who never gave up." He said. Takuya nodded. "I am, but the others have already found Teruo and Katsuharu, now we seem to be the last ones." Ken shook his head. "It doesn't matter if we **are** the last ones to save someone. What matters is that we** do** save someone." Takuya nodded, seeing his logic. Suddenly, they felt a small tremor and fell backwards. Standing up, they saw Grumblemon walking towards them. "Ready, Ken?" Ken nodded, although wondering what use he would be. Then he realised that there were no control spires. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution! BurningGreymon!" "Wormmon digivolve two! Stingmon!" Grumblemon smirked. "Me no care how many friends you have. Me still defeat you!" "I doubt it!" cried Stingmon as the two attacked. "Spiking Strike!" "Wildfire Tsunami!" The attacks sent Grumblemon reeling, but were not enough to knock him off his feet. "That best you do? That pathetic. Even make pathetic look good!" "Looks like it's time for plan B." BurningGreymon growled, de-digivolving. "Execute! Fusion Evolution! Aldamon!" Grumblemon looked up in awe at the larger digimon. He had never seen the fusion evolutions as he was reconfigured before they met Duskmon and he and Koji gained the ability to spirit evolve. "Atomic Inferno!" This time, it took a lot of strength to stay upright. _Another attack like that and I might actually lose._ Thought Grumblemon, frowning at the thought. "Seismic Sledge!" he hit out with his hammer, missing the two by less than an inch. "I don't want to fight you, Teppei!" cried Aldamon. "Me no know who you talking too." Said Grumblemon. Aldamon growled in fury. "Solar Wind Destroyer!" Grumblemon fell backwards against a rock which cracked under the force of the attack. Aldamon de-digivolved back into Agunimon as Grumblemon's fractal code appeared. "I must make the ground fertile again. Fractal code, digitise!" Teppei gave a cry of pain as his two spirits of ground were sucked into Takuya's d-tector and he hit the ground. Ken and Takuya ran over to him. "Teppei, you alright?" Teppei grimaced, nodded and stood up. Takuya took out his d-tector. "Teppei's safe. Any word from Koji?" Zoe's voice came through. "Thank God you're safe. Nothing yet. We're at Breezy Town. Can you meet us here?" "Sure thing." Takuya replied and then turned to Teppei. "You okay to walk?" Teppei nodded. Takuya looked at him concerned. "Nothing you did was your fault, you know." Teppei looked up at the older boy. "How can you say that? I could have destroyed you." Takuya nodded. "I know, but the important thing is that you didn't. Now come on. We don't want to worry the others, do we?" Teppei shook his head and began walking toward Breezy Town. _Like Koji did. _Thought Takuya, also beginning to walk. _I hope he's okay…_


	8. Back to the Mountain of KaratsukiNumemon

Koji stopped and took a deep breath. The air was getting thinner and there was still no sign of a cave. He glanced sideways at Koichi and down at Kijai who was just below him. "You guys okay?" he yelled. They had to yell to be heard because of the fierce wind that carried away anything they tried to say. Koichi and Kijai nodded. Eventually they came to a small opening in the wall and headed inside, not because they thought that it might be Merukimon's cave, but for some shelter. Inside was a large, round, chamber like room with several metal doors. Koji glanced at his siblings. "This is the place." Suddenly, Tommy's voice came in on his digivice. "Guys, Katsuharu is back. Any progress with the rest?" Zoe's voice came in first. "Teruo is back to normal too." Koji took out his digivice and replied. "We're outside Merukimon's cave and we're about to go in." Finally, Takuya's voice came through as well. "We haven't found Teppei yet, but we're not giving up!"Koji replaced his d-tector back into his jean pocket. Choosing one of the doors, he walked up to it and pushed it. It easily swung open, as if it was used frequently. Behind it was a large room with an enormous bed. Koji shook his head and closed the door as quietly as he possibly could. Eventually, they had opened every door but one. Kijai nodded and attempted to push it open, but it was locked. "This is definitely it." She said. "But how'll we get the door open?" Koji took out his d-tector once more. "Leave it to me. Execute! Spirit Evolution! Lobomon! Lobo Kendo!" The lock easily broke under the force of the attack. Koji de-digivolved and the trio ran inside. Chiaki was sitting in a corner of the dark room with Patamon by her side. Her eyes were half-closed and her dark hair was lose and unkempt. Koji and Koichi ran over to her although Kijai stayed at a distance. "Chiaki? Chiaki, are you okay?" The younger girl opened her eyes at the sound of Koichi's voice. "Koichi? Koji? You came!" She gleefully flung her arms around the two boys and looked up at Kijai suspiciously. "Who are you?" she asked. Kijai opened her mouth but no words came out. How could she tell this girl that she was used to be Ranamon? Koji took the girls hand and led her over to Kijai. "This is Kijai, our sister. Kijai, meet Chiaki and Patamon." The two nodded in greeting and then looked at Koji. "We need to get out of here." Chiaki whispered, urgently. Koichi nodded and headed towards the door. "We should head for Breezy Town. That's where Zoe told us to meet her when we rescued Chiaki." Kijai nodded and followed Koichi out of the room. Koji looked at Chiaki. "Are you okay to travel?" Chiaki nodded and confidently walked towards the door. Koji sighed and followed them, glancing behind him as he left the cave to make sure that no one had seen them.

As they walked through the dense forest, Chiaki and Kijai were completely silent, not speaking a single word. Eventually, Koichi broke the silence by announcing that they would be in the small village in a few minutes. They sped up and a few minutes later, they were sitting around a table with the others eating large bowls of pear-and-mushroom soup. After a while, Ken stood up. "Yolei and I have decided to return to the real world." He began. "What?" cried Takuya. "You can't be serious!" Ken nodded. "Our digimon were barely strong enough to stay in their champion forms. We'd only be a burden." Everyone except for Koichi began to shout down the idea. "I think you're right." He said quietly, causing everyone to pause. "If that's how you feel, then you should return to the real world. And I'm willing to bet that Matt wouldn't want to miss out if you two are still here. If he came, then there's a chance that he'd get captured by Merukimon." Ken nodded. "That's why we're going. Tomorrow morning we're going to find a Trailmon and go home." Eventually, everyone agreed that this was the best decision. Katsuharu stood up as well. "I think that we should go too." He said. "We only came because Patamon needed us." He was immediately shouted down by everybody, including Koichi, Ken, Yolei and their digimon. "You were given the spirits and they accepted you." Takuya said. "Yeah. You and only you will be able to access their power now!" agreed Koji. Katsuharu sat down again. "Okay. Okay. I guess I'm over ruled." Chiaki didn't say anything. **She **hadn't been given or accepted by a spirit. How could she be anything but a burden? Suddenly, the room was filled with a beeping as everyone's d-tector received a message. Katsuharu, Teppei, Teruo and Chiaki also took out their phones. "Children." Came the voice. They all immediately recognised it. "Ophanimon!" They cried. When they defeated Cherubimon, Ophanimon had sacrificed herself to retrieve their stolen digivices. "No. I am not Ophanimon yet. I am still merely at Ultimate level and am now Angewomon. Children, I must warn you, that this evil is greater even than Lucemon. And you will most certainly need the power of all of the legendary warriors." At this, Katsuharu, Teppei and Teruo's phones began to glow and were replaced by d-tectors. "Use these to gain your spirits and spirit evolve. Chiaki, do not worry. You have a very large purpose in being in this world as well." Chiaki's face brightened as her phone too began to glow and transformed into a d-tector. "You must also know children," she continued. "There were more than ten legendary warriors."

The group stared in astonishment at one another. "Angewomon, what do you mean?" Asked Teppei, awestruck. "Exactly what I said. There were actually fifteen. After Lucemon took over the digital world, fifteen warriors rose up against him, but he destroyed five of them. I have recently discovered the locations of them. So I asked Patamon to call you four back to the digital world to discover yourselves and realise that you are meant to be legendary warriors." Her voice began to crackle as she spoke her last words. "It is time for the legendary warriors to be reborn. For earth, look by the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain. I will contact you again when you find it." With that, her voice stopped altogether and the room was silent as they turned to look at Teruo. "Looks like you're the lucky winner!" JP said, going over and putting his arm around the younger boy. "You get your spirit first!" Teruo nodded, unable to say anything. Ken and Yolei stood up. "It looks like you know what you're going to do next." Yolei said. "Just don't forget about Davis and the others. The key to freeing them is causing their digimon to de-digivolve." The group nodded. "We're going to go and get some rest," said Ken. "The sun's already gone down and we need to get up early to catch a Trailmon." Once again, the group nodded. "We may as well do the same." Said Tommy, stretching. "The Trailmon for that mountain always leaves early." Chiaki nodded. "He's right. We may need to leave even earlier than you two." She added, turning towards the older two. "Go and get some rest then. And remember to wake up early." The group then departed to their rooms and began to dream.

Kijai looked out of the window of the Trailmon. She was nervously awaiting the arrival of the large mountain. The others had told her how tough the track was, and so she was highly anxious to be off of Angler (the Trailmon). "Get ready, guys. The mountains coming up!" said Tommy, clinging onto his seat. The others followed his example as they went through the loops and twists of the course. A minute later, they were all flung against the wall as Angler began to climb up the mountain. "Angler! How long until you can let us out?" screamed Chiaki, hugging Patamon. Finally, Angler pulled to a stop and the children climbed out, clasping the wooden ladders that they had to use to climb the steep mountain. "I'll be seeing you." He yelled as he started up again. They climbed the ladders to the mayor KaratsukiNumemon's house. He eagerly welcomed the five that had saved them from Grumblemon, but was wary of the other six and was slow to welcome them. "This is Koichi, Kijai, Teruo, Katsuharu, Teppei and Chiaki." Explained Koji. "Koichi and Kijai are my siblings and the others are very good friends of ours." The mayor nodded and from then was more friendly to the group. After a while of friendly chit-chat, the group steered the conversation towards the spirit of earth. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?" asked Katsuharu asked hopefully. The mayor shook his head. "Oh no, my boy. Even if I did, I wouldn't go near it. Why do you ask?" he asked, frowning suspiciously. "Because it's my spirit!" Teruo said before anyone could stop him. The mayor backed away a few steps, eyes wider than saucers. "**You're** the-the w-w-warrior of earth?" he stuttered fearfully. Teruo nodded proudly and Koji slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Um… would you like to stay for the night? It is getting dark!" said the KaratsukiNumemon, blushing bright red and smiling unusually widely. Before the others could protest, Koji nodded. "We'd love to." He replied. Zoe sharply turned her head towards him. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "You remember the last time we stayed here and their feelings towards Grumblemon and the spirit of earth!" Koji didn't turn towards her as he stood up to follow the others into the bedroom. "Didn't you see the way the mayor looked nervous when Katsuharu mentioned Teruo's spirit? Or the way he kept glancing towards the left wall?" He nodded his head towards the wall he was talking about. "There's something going on around here and I'm going to figure out what it is!"


	9. Aluxmon, The Spirit of Earth

Koji lay on the leaf bed he and the others had made with the help of some KaratsukiNumemon. He hadn't fallen asleep, nor had any of the original digidestined for they were all waiting to see if any of the KaratsukiNumemon would sneak into their room. Eventually, Koji stood up and walked towards the doorway. On his way past Zoe, she pushed herself up so that she was resting on her elbow. "Where are you going?" Koji stopped, but didn't turn around. "To find the spirit of earth. You don't need to come. You'd… you'd only be in my way." Zoe's face didn't change, but there was hurt in her eyes. "Shouldn't you at least wake Teruo? It is his spirit after all." Koji paused and then turned around. "True." He walked over to Teruo and shook the younger boy awake. "Teruo, I'm going looking for your spirit. You feel like coming?" Teruo immediately shook away any sleepiness and leaped up. "Sure." Zoe chuckled at his enthusiasm as they left the room, but then fell silent and hugged herself. She felt very hurt that Koji said she would be in his way. She had gotten him out of a few nasty scrapes herself. He would have fallen from the cliff if she hadn't given him her hand. She stood up and picked up her blue hair band and quickly slid it into place. If they were going, there was no way that she wasn't. She glanced around at her friends. All of them had fallen into an uneasy dose and would wake easily if there was any trouble. She quickly exited the room and followed the sound of Koji and Teruo's footsteps.

Teruo glanced around and then followed Koji over to the wall. "I'm sure that it was this one." He muttered, pressing different places on the wall. Teruo took out his d-tector. The signal of his spirit seemed to be strong. "It must be." He said, pressing places that Koji missed. Eventually, one of the stones collapsed and the ground beneath them disappeared and they fell a few meters before landing at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Koji stood up and brushed himself down. "Next time, wait until we're out of the way before you press anything." He groaned. Suddenly, a smaller figure dropped down beside them. "You guys okay?" Teruo recognised Zoe's voice and felt relieved. He thought it might have been one of Merukimon's cronies after his spirit. Koji was boiling though. "What are you doing here? I told you not to follow us!" Koji secretly cared to much about Zoe to see her hurt, but he was too embarrassed to admit it, even to himself. Zoe grinned and winked. "Couldn't let you two have all the fun, now could I?" Koji sighed and turned towards a large, looming tunnel. "Just don't expect me to protect you every step of the way." He said, tucking his hands into his pockets. Teruo smiled apologetically at Zoe and then looked at his d-tector again. The signal was much stronger now and it seemed to be down the tunnel that Koji had just entered a few seconds ago. But something seemed to be jamming the signal because it flashed off and on again every few seconds. Suddenly they heard a yell from down the passage. Running down after Koji, they saw him in the grasp of a Chamelemon. "Koji!" cried Zoe. "Exe… aah!" She was cut off as another Chamelemon appeared and grabbed her. Out of the darkness, the mayor KaratsukiNumemon emerged. "This is what happens when you bring the evil into our midst," he said smugly. "You will never bring Grumblemon back." He then turned to Teruo and glared at him. "And you… the holder of the spirit. Let's see how good of a fighter you are without your friends to protect." The two watched, helpless as Teruo fought the mayor. He had gotten a lot of courage since the last time they had seen one another and because of that he had grown stronger. But the KaratsukiNumemon was still to strong for him and after a few minutes, knocked him to the ground, dislodging a few rocks. As Teruo forced himself up, he noticed a slight glowing amongst the rocks. "SPIRIT!" he cried and pressed a button on his d-tector. As it was drawn in, Teruo turned around, face down and d-tector held about shoulder level. "Now you're going to get it." He yelled. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" The other two stared in awe as he digivolved. He grew taller and bulkier and his clothes were replaced by brown armour. He grew short fur on his back and his hair lengthened and he grabbed a smaller version of Grumblemon's hammer that fell next to him. "Aluxmon!" he cried out gleefully. "Snake Shots!" The Chamelemon disappeared, dropping Zoe and Koji in the process. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Lobomon!" "Kazemon!" The KaratsukiNumemon looked around, panicked. "Tempest Twist!" "Rock Break!" "Lobo Kendo!" The three attacks hit as one and the KaratsukiNumemon's fractal code appeared. Aluxmon walked forwards. "An honour to have shown you the true power of earth. Fractal code, digitise!" He didn't feel like making a fool of himself by giving a cheesy phrase like the others did. The group looked on as his digi egg left for the Village of Beginnings. They de-digivolved, Teruo collapsed onto his knees, shocked by the power he had accessed. "Let's go back." Said Zoe, glancing at Koji. The boy was blushing, probably from the fact that he had to be rescued. He nodded, turned and walked back up the tunnel. Teruo stood up and followed him, leaving Zoe alone. _Oh, Koji_. She sighed._ Why don't you accept the fact that I love you?_

Koji turned over, trying once more to get comfortable in the leaf-bed. Teruo and Zoe had fallen asleep long ago, but Koji felt too restless. He knew that he was being stupid, ignoring Zoe and being rude to her when he loved her, but he felt embarrassed. Sighing, he closed his eyes for the twelfth time. But instead of darkness, images of Zoe came swimming to his mind, as did her giggle. Sighing again, he stood up and walked over to the doorway and looked outside. After a few minutes, someone joined him. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and for once, didn't shrug it off. "Kijai, go back to bed." He murmured. Kijai stood closer to him. "Koji, what's wrong?" Koji looked over his shoulder at her. "Nothing. Why?" Kijai shook her head, exasperated. "That's a lie and you know it." Koji sighed. He closed his eyes and pictured Zoe smiling. He could hear her soft giggle and smell her sweet perfume. "Say nothing," said Kijai, nodding. "Is it Zoe or Chiaki?" "Zoe." Koji responded, barely loud enough to hear himself. Kijai nodded again. "I thought as much," she said. "Why do you push her away so much? She really likes you, you know." Koji shrugged, feeling embarrassed beyond measure. Kijai yawned. "Promise me that you'll tell her?" Koji said nothing. "I'm not leaving until you promise!" Koji smiled weakly. "Okay, I promise," he said. "Now let's go back to bed." Kijai nodded and yawned again. "Good idea." She replied as they returned to the bedroom. Koji settled down and finally fell asleep, dreaming of Zoe and her reaction when he would tell her his true feelings.

Koichi opened his eyes to the sounds of screaming. When he looked up, he realised that the KaratsukiNumemon had crowded into the room, eyes gleaming with anger. "What are you doing?" asked Koji in a pulled-back voice, rather like when he was about to digivolve. "We ask what are **you **doing, destroying our mayor." Said one. Koichi shook his head, confused, but Teruo spoke up, "He and two Chamelemon were about to destroy us!" This was news to Koichi who looked at his brother, wondering if he had anything to do with this. "Pah! He was simply trying to test the holder of the spirit of earth!" spat another. Koji glared at them, "No he **wasn't**! Do you think we don't know by now when someone's trying to destroy us?" _Well, that answers my question._ Koichi thought to himself. "Get out of our town before we push you off the cliff ourselves!" the first countered. He then turned to Koji. "And **this** time, there won't be a pile of slime to ease the fall!" Koji frowned at them, obviously remembering falling into what he thought was a pile of straw. "Go on! Go!" yelled a third, obviously wanting to be the one to push them if they refused. Seeing that this could lead to a fight, Koichi walked out of the house and began to climb down the ladder. Followed by the rest of the group, when he reached the end of the ladders, he began to climb the Trailmon tracks, hoping that a Trailmon wouldn't appear at that moment. Luckily, they got down the mountain safely without any Trailmon interference. "Well it looks like we can't go back there again," said Zoe, wistfully. She had always loved the amazing view that the mountain gave. "Sorry about your spirit, Teruo." Teruo looked at her, surprised. "But I got my spirit last night." He explained. "The Chamelemon had grabbed Zoe and Koji and the KaratsukiNumemon was threatening to destroy them, so I digivolved into Aluxmon." The group, excluding Koji and Zoe for obvious reasons, stared at him in amazement. "Well that's one spirit crossed off our list," said Takuya, pitting his hands behind his head in a stretch. "Where to next?" Everyone took out their d-tectors and stared at them expectantly. After a few minutes, Angewomon spoke to them. "For wood, go to the forest terminal. And then Steel Town for metal." Teppei and Katsuharu nodded. "So, which way first?" Takuya asked, clearly not wanting to take sides by choosing. "Forest Terminal." "Steel Town!" They both spoke at the exact same moment, not even taking a slight breath before glaring at each other. "What did you say?" Koichi sighed. If they were going to keep this up, the group would get nowhere.

**How will they decide which spirit to look for? Could this row be the end of the DigiDestined? Find out on the next "Return of the Spirits"!**

**Sorry. I REALLY luv doing that! :)**


	10. Sun and Moon

"We should look for the spirit of metal first! It's stronger!" protested Katsuharu. Teppei glared at him, "But the Forest Terminal is closer! And what do you mean by "metal is stronger"? Maybe it's** my **spirit that's stronger!" Katsuharu snorted, "Please. When we were battling these guys, who was the first to be defeated? You. You were the first to lose!" Koichi walked forwards, his face flaming. _Uh oh._ Thought Koji. _This is not going to be pretty. _"He was **lucky** to be defeated first! He overcame the evil force Merukimon had over him!" Koichi yelled. Katsuharu took a step backwards. He would have expected this from the short tempered Koji, but not his quieter twin. Then he smirked. "You're just standing up for him because you had to be defeated to become good again." _Too far._ Thought Koji, cringing. "Being defeated was what I wanted. If I hadn't been defeated, maybe the digital world wouldn't even be here! Teppei being defeated and becoming good again first shows how strong he really is." Teppei blinked in surprise. He used to be very weak when the two groups had first met so it was a pleasant surprise to be called strong. "We're going to the Forest Terminal first." Said Koichi, walking in its direction. "We've wasted enough time here arguing." Koji nodded and the rest of the group began to follow Koichi. Suddenly, a creamy coloured digimon leapt out from behind a bush and ran towards Takuya. "Takuya! You've finally returned!" A yellow rabbit-like digimon followed the creamy digimon's example and ran towards Koichi. "Koji!" The creamy digimon stopped. "Neemon, why did I ever agree to bring you with me? That's** not **Koji. It's Koichi!" Neemon cocked his head, "Sorry, Koichi. Koichi!" The creamy digimon shook his head. Takuya grinned, "Bokomon! Did you ever get to write your book?" Bokomon nodded and produced a large book from his pink waistband and opened a page. On it were small drawings of Koji, Koichi, Takuya, Zoe, JP and Tommy. "Awesome! I can't believe we're actually in a book!" Exclaimed Tommy, jumping up and down in excitement. By now, the other five were beginning to feel more than a little awkward. Bokomon turned around and immediately spotted Katsuharu, Teruo, Teppei and Chiaki. "My dear boy, when and **why** did you return?" he asked, suspiciously. Katsuharu blushed, "Patamon told us he needed our help in the digital world and that Ophanimon, well Angewomon now, had sent for us." Bokomon's eyes widened and began to shine. "My Patamon?" Zoe shook her head. "Your Patamon digivolved into MagnaAngemon. He means the Patamon that the Angemon the Royal Knights destroyed. Bokomon's excited face grew disappointed as he turned to Kijai. "And you? I don't believe we have met." Kijai blushed, "I'm Kijai, Koji and Koichi's sister." Once again, Bokomon's eyes widened, but for once, he didn't ask any questions. Instead he turned back to Takuya, "Where are you going now?" "The Forest Terminal." "Why there?" "We're looking for Teppei's spirit of wood." "May Neemon and I tag along?" Takuya nodded and smiled. "Of course." The group once again began to walk towards the Forest Terminal, where, little did they know, a future friend was awaiting them.

I stepped off of the Trailmon, coughing due to the steam on the platform. Glancing around as the Trailmon left the station, I saw a large sign. "Forest Terminal." I read and then sighed. Going to take out my phone, I gasped. In its place was a small, orange-and-white device. "Amber Blackstone. This is your d-tector. Use it to find your spirit." I sighed. "What spirit and where do I find it?" "Wait for the others. Eventually, everything will become clear." Replied the voice. I made a growl-like noise in my throat. "Not good enough. Who are you? How do you know my name? Who are the others and what is a spirit?" My d-tector screen went blank and I made the growl-like noise again, walked over to a bench and sat down. "I guess I'd better wait. Here's as good a place as any." I closed her eyes, remembering how I got to this world in the first place.

_*Flashback* I sighed. I had recently moved to Jiyuugaoka from America and was bored out of my mind. For a while, my friends and I had texted constantly, but I ran out of credit and didn't have enough money to buy more and soon the texts stopped coming. Sighing, I turned on my new phone to check my messages, catching a glimpse of the ginger hair and orange-tinted eyes that had earned me my name. "Nothing." Suddenly, I received a new message. "Do you want to play?" I read aloud. Underneath the message were two buttons, one saying __**yes**__, the other, __**no**__. I looked for the sender. "Unknown. Weird." Instead of deleting the message like I normally do, I clicked __**yes. **__It was something to do. "Amber Blackstone," a voice said. I looked around for the owner of the voice only to realise that it was my phone. "This is the game that will decide your destiny. Do you want to play?" I stared at my phone. "What do you mean my destiny?" I frowned, beginning to wish that I had just deleted it. "Take the 5.45 train from Jiyuugaoka station to Shibuya." I looked at the clock on my phone. 5.40. Of course I was going to do it. I always did. I ran over to the ticket booth, bought a ticket and ran aboard the train just before the doors closed. After a few minutes, my phone vibrated again. I looked around as I picked it up. One other girl, about my age with long, dark hair, a green hat and jacket, purple top and jeans picked up her phone at the same time and flipped the cover off. I glanced around again and noticed that a boy, possibly a year older than me was also looking at his phone. He had long, brown, curly hair that he wore in a ponytail and tanned skin. He was wearing a blue, grey and red shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, brown pants, a pair of black runners and a set of black headphones around his neck. The headphones didn't seem to be connected to anything. I then glanced down at my phone. "Transfer to the 6 o'clock underground train from Shibuya." I groaned. This was getting old. When the train stopped, I quickly got off. I looked around. Where was the elevator? Seeing the brown haired boy and the dark haired girl, I followed them, thinking that they might know what to do. I stopped beside them as the boy pressed the elevator button. The lift came and we piled in. "You guys here because of the message to?" I decided to break the silence. The girl didn't react but the boy nodded and grinned at me. I looked up at the dial. Wait, something was wrong. What elevator went beyond basement level? The boy and I screamed as the elevator plunged downwards. The girl simply clutched the hand rail tightly. We came to a sudden halt and the doors opened. I took out my phone again. "Now it is up to you. What train will you choose? Remember, the train will leave on time." The girl ran out and quickly chose a train and the boy exited more slowly, waving at me before he also climbed aboard a train. I walked around the platform for a few minutes before choosing a small, pink train and climbing on. None too soon, for as I climbed on, a whistle blew and the doors shut. I sat down and looked out the window. There was no one else on the train. I knew for certain because this was the only carriage. Wherever I'm going, at least I'm going to get there in a soon. I thought._

I opened her eyes as I heard the sound of a Trailmon entering the station. The doors opened and the brown haired boy from before fell out. "That first steps a bit of a challenge." The Trailmon said. The boy stood up and nodded before staring at the Trailmon in astonishment. "You talked!" The Trailmon nodded and closed his eye for a moment. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a schedule to keep. See you around!" The boy watched as the Trailmon backed up and left the station. He turned around, and spotting me, grinned, "You're the girl from the Shibuya station, right?" I nodded. "I'm Harry O' Connor. I moved here last year from Ireland." As he spoke, I began to hear the Irish accent in his voice. "And you are?" "I'm Amber Blackstone. I recently moved from America." Harry nodded. "I see." He then took out his phone, probably to check it for any messages and gasped in surprise. In its place was another device, identical to mine, except that this time it was gold and white. "Harry O' Connor. This is your d-tector. Wait for the others and then begin the search for your spirit." The screen then went blank and he stared at her. I shrugged, "I don't know either. I'm just waiting for "the others"." Harry grinned, "Mind if I wait with you?" I shrugged. I preferred to be alone, but if he wanted to wait with me, I wasn't going to be the one to be rude and say no. Harry walked over and sat down beside me. We grew silent until night fell. "I'll take first watch." I said, standing up. Harry looked up at me, "What do you mean?" He genuinely looked confused. I sighed. He obviously had no idea how to live with constant danger on his tail. Neither did I as a matter of fact, but I do pick up things from TV and books. "I'll keep a look out for danger or "the others" for a while and then wake you when it's your turn." Harry nodded and then relaxed against the bench. In a matter of minutes, he was asleep.

Koji looked up. The tree that was the Forest Terminal was looming above them. In a few minutes, they would be there. Koji looked at Kijai who raised her eyebrows and nodded at Zoe. Koji sighed. He knew he had promised, but every time he got close to talking to Zoe, he froze up. But not this time. He walked over to Zoe and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked around, half annoyed, "What?" Koji cringed. He had gotten off to a bad start, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Zoe nodded and the two walked over to a nearby tree. Koji looked at Kijai who gave him a thumbs up and then walked over to Koichi and started whispering to him. "Zoe… I need to tell you how I feel," Zoe's eyes widened and Koji felt his face redden. "I… I don't exactly know how to say this." Zoe did it for him. She moved forwards and their lips met. They were silent and only parted when they needed to gasp for air. "Will you be my girlfriend, Zoe?" Koji could hardly believe that the words passed his lips and could believe it even less when Zoe nodded and they kissed again. Zoe tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and, giggling, ran over to Kijai who questioned her excitedly. Koji walked more slowly over to his brother who stared at him in astonishment. "So. You and Zoe, huh?" Koji nodded, blushing. Koichi smiled. "You two are perfect for one another." Koji grinned, "For a second there I thought you were going to say that it would never work." Koichi shook his head, "You know I'd never say something like that," his smile faded. "You're going to have to tell Takuya though." Koji nodded. "I know." Takuya walked up behind them without them knowing, "I already know." The two brothers jumped at his sudden appearance. Takuya looked distraught, but hid it, "I'm really happy for you and Zoe." Koji nodded, finding a new respect for him. It took a lot of courage to hide your hurt and talk to someone that caused you that pain. "Come on, We'd better catch up to the others." The three boys ran, catching up to their friends just before they entered the Forest Terminal.


	11. The Spirit of Wood and Lunar

Disclaimer: I cant believe i forgot this! I dont own digimon. :(

I looked up at the sound of approaching people. Harry had woken me a few minutes after dawn for the final watch. Quickly shaking Harry awake, we both stood up. It was a large group of eleven people and two creatures I had never seen before. Harry took a step forwards. "Hey, there!" The group looked up at him and climbed up onto the platform. I didn't say anything, but looked at the dark haired girl we had been with in the elevator. She smiled at us, obviously recognising us as well. "Are you "the others" that our… d-tectors have been telling us about?" They all looked at us. "You have d-tectors too?" asked a brown haired kid with goggles and a green hat on his head. We both nodded and took them out to show them. They took theirs out as well. Harry smiled at them, "I'm Harry O' Connor. And this is Amber Blackstone." I nodded at them, unsmiling. I was never too quick to trust people. The brown haired kid smiled back, "I'm Takuya. And this is Tommy," he nodded towards the youngest child who put up his hand in a small wave. "JP," he said, indicating to the slightly overweight but cheerful looking boy in a tracksuit who grinned. "Zoe," The blonde girl smiled widely. She had a very open look about her. "Koji," a surly looking boy a lot like the dark haired girl. "Koichi, his twin brother," a more cheerful looking boy, who grinned in greeting. "Kijai, their younger sister," the dark haired girl. "Katsuharu," a spiky haired, argumentative looking boy. "Teppei," another spiky haired boy with glasses. "Teruo," a secretive yet happy looking kid. "Chiaki," the last girl. "And last but not least, Bokomon and Neemon." The two creatures. We nodded at them all as they were introduced to us. "So… um… what are you doing here?" Takuya asked awkwardly. I shrugged and Harry looked down at his d-tector, "Someone sent us a weird email telling us to wait for "the others", who I'm guessing is you, and to find our spirits, whatever that means." He looked up at them, "So any idea where we are?" They looked at us, amazed. "You mean you don't know!" exclaimed Chiaki. We shook our heads. This seemed to be becoming a routine. "We're in the digital world. Creatures like Bokomon and Neemon, called digimon, live here." Harry and I looked at one another. Then we burst out laughing, "Another world? Digimon? Yeah right!" I giggled. "Did you really expect us to buy that?" Harry asked in between laughs. Bokomon rolled his eyes, "It's all true, my dear boy. You **are** in the digital world and Neemon and I **are** digimon." We stopped laughing and stared at him in shock, "You mean we're really not in the human world anymore?" Bokomon shook his head, "I'm afraid not." We looked at them and then I looked away, "This is getting a little too weird for me." I was about to walk away when the dark haired girl… Kijai… grabbed my arm, "Where are you going? We need to find your spirit!" I shrugged her off, "I need to think this whole "digital world" thing through," I looked at Harry. "You coming?" He nodded, waved in farewell to the others and then followed me into the woods that surrounded the Forest Terminal.

Kijai stared after them in exasperation. She knew that in only a matter of time they would run into something that they couldn't handle. She sighed. _Oh well. We're not here to play babysitter. _She began to recall meeting them in the elevator. She hadn't **meant **to be rude. She had just been occupied with her thoughts. Unfortunately, it wasn't Angewomon who had sent her the message, but she didn't know that at the time. She shook her head to rid it of these thoughts. The rest of the group had begun discussing where Teppei's spirit could be. "Maybe it **is** the tree!" suggested Takuya, turning towards the large tree. Koji sighed, "Takuya, if it was the tree, what would happen when Teppei summoned it? The tree would become the spirit and then the whole terminal would be gone." Takuya blushed, "Oh yea. Forgot about that." Suddenly, a small digimon swooped in on them from the branch above them. "I wouldn't touch that spirit if I were you!" it taunted. "Oh yeah? Says who?" I yelled. The digimon landed just in front of us, "I do. Wizardmon. And I have a few friends that would like to object to you taking it too." As if on cue, a dozen more Wizardmon floated down from the branch. Takuya glared at them, "We're not letting you take Teppei's spirit! Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Agunimon!" "Lobomon!" "Kumamon!" "Kazemon!" "Beetlemon!" "Lowemon!" "Oceanamon!" "Aluxmon!" The Wizardmon stared in astonishment at the eight who had digivolved, "No matter. We can defeat you anyway." "I doubt it!" growled Agunimon. "Pyro Darts!" The three who had not yet earned their spirits looked on, helpless. "They're losing!" Chiaki cried. Katsuharu glared at Teppei, "What are you waiting for? Find your spirit!" Teppei nodded and grabbed hi d-tector which produced a small map with a dot representing himself and a flashing light, possibly representing his spirit. A small arrow was pointing towards the tree that was the Forest Terminal. He walked towards it and eventually was exactly where the flashing light was. Looking back at his d-tector, he realised that the map had disappeared. Teppei glanced around. There was only a small hollow in the tree, but inside there was something glowing. Running in, Teppei came face to face with a small object, a lot like a wooden doll. He pointed his d-tector towards it, "**Spirit!**" His d-tector absorbed the spirit and he walked back outside. All but Lobomon had de-digivolved and were on the ground. Lobomon was badly injured and fighting every Wizardmon but one who had been defeated. "Stop it!" Everyone, including the Wizardmon, stared at Teppei who held up his d-tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" A black visor appeared over his eyes and two black streaks appeared on either cheek. His hair also turned black and grew to waist level. His body became coated with a wood-like armour and two horns grew at either side of his wrists. A black belt appeared at his waist and he grabbed a long, brown sword which had been attached to it, "Zemelenmon!" Lobomon stared in astonishment at Zemelenmon before attacking once more. "Lobo Kendo!" "Bark Breaker!" Five of the Wizardmon were re-configured. "Howling Laser!" "Wood Chop!" Another five were defeated. Now only the first Wizardmon was standing. "Give up while you still can!" cried Zemelenmon. Wizardmon glared at him, "Never!" Zemelenmon looked at Lobomon who nodded. "Very well, then. Bark Breaker!" Wizardmon's eyes widened as he fell backwards and his fractal code appeared. "You've been barking up the wrong tree. Fractal code, digitise!" cried Zemelenmon, walking forwards. The group watched as the final Wizardmon's egg levitated its way towards the Village of Beginnings. Koji and Teppei de-digivolved and collapsed. Koji recovered more quickly and walked over to Teppei and held out his hand. Teppei looked at him, grinned and took it, "Thanks, Koji." Koji nodded and the two returned to the rest of the group. "Well, it looks like we're heading for the spirit of metal next." Said Takuya, hands in his pockets. "Anyone know the way from here?" When everyone shook their heads, Takuya sighed. It was going to be a long walk.

I looked up at the trees as Harry and I walked through the forest. We were both silent for a while. "Why didn't you want to look for your spirit?" Harry asked, finally breaking the awkward silence. I shrugged, "I prefer to be on my own most of the time." I looked at him. "If you wanted to look for yours, then why did you agree to come with me?" Harry shrugged. Once again, silence dawned upon us. Finally, we emerged from the forest into a small town. "Burgermon Town," Harry read from a small, nearby sign. "Sounds like a good place to rest." I nodded. Suddenly, a door opened and out flew six or seven creatures a lot like burger buns with wings. "Welcomewelcomewelcomewelcomewelcome!" They said, flocking around us. A larger digimon, creamy coloured with a large burger on its head followed them out. "TorikaraBallmon! Stop that this instant." The TorikaraBallmon flew over to her who looked apologetically at us, "I'm sorry about that. Welcome to Burgermon Town. Would you like a burger?" As if on cue, both of our stomachs began growling. "We'd love to, but we're broke." Replied Harry regretfully. The digimon shook its head. "Don't worry about it. We'd love to give you a few complimentary burgers. By the way, I'm Burgermon." Harry grinned, "Thanks so much! I'm Harry and this is Amber." Burgermon smiled happily and we followed her indoors. In a few minutes, we were eating the most delicious burgers we had ever tasted. "These are gorgeous!" Harry mumbled as he took another bite. I nodded in agreement, "Are you sure we don't have to pay?" Burgermon nodded and smiled sadly. "You're the first visitors we've had in months." Harry and I looked at one another in astonishment. "It's because of SuperStarmon," Burgermon continued. "Whenever anyone came, he would attack and drive them away. Eventually, people stopped coming." I frowned. "That's so mean! Why would he do that?" "It's not his fault. He's under Merukimon's control." I gritted my teeth, "We can help. We'll defeat SuperStarmon." Harry, Burgermon and the TorikaraBallmon stared at me in astonishment. Tears grew in Burgermon's eyes, "Would you really?" I nodded, not quite knowing what I was getting us into. The TorikaraBallmon flocked around us again, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Burgermon dried her eyes, "That's enough now. Off to bed." The TorikaraBallmon happily flew off to bed, not complaining once even though it was still bright out. "Would you like to stay here for the night?" Burgermon asked. Harry and I nodded, pleased that we wouldn't have to sleep outside. "There's a spare room upstairs to the left. We can spare it for a day or two." Burgermon said, directing us to the stairs. We climbed up and soon we were each in a warm bed, discussing how we were going to defeat SuperStarmon. "We don't even have our spirits yet," protested Harry. "How are we supposed to fight him, let alone beat him?" I was about to reply when there was a loud crash outside and we heard Burgermon scream. "It's SuperStarmon!"

Harry and I leapt out of bed and ran outside. "I guess we don't have much of a choice anymore." I said. Harry nodded and we both stopped just outside the door. SuperStarmon was a golden star with arms, feet and a large pair of sunglasses. When he spoke, we heard a voice a lot like Elvis, "So you're the little twerps that got by me this morning, uh huh!" I sighed. That voice was really getting to me and this was the first time I had heard it, "Why are you stopping visitors coming to Burgermon Town?" I yelled. "They're not doing any harm!" "Uh huh, uh huh. That's what they all say. I'm gonna send you running as well!" Grabbing a nearby stick, I swung it around so that it was pointing at him. Harry grabbed a barrel and threw it at SuperStarmon who easily deflected it. Then following my example, Harry also grabbed a stick. We both ran at him, trying to attack him ninja style, but he easily knocked us away. "Halley's Squall!" The attack was sent flying towards Harry who I pushed out of the way, but it hit me instead and sent me flying onto the roof of a nearby building. Cringing, I sat up and looked down, seeing Harry trying to fend off SuperStarmon on his own. I closed my eyes and looked up at the moon. There was a small glint of light just in the centre of it. Taking out my d-tector, I pointed it towards it. "**Spirit!**" The light flew towards my d-tector and I jumped down to the ground. Harry turned to look at me. "Amber, get back! You're injured!" SuperStarmon knocked him out of the way while he was distracted and he hit a nearby wall. "Leave him **alone**!" I yelled. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Wings grew on my back and I had thigh-high boots and a short, silver, dress like armour. My hair grew to thigh level and braided at the back. Silver, elbow length gloves worked their way onto my hands and a small, moon shaped pendant appeared around my neck, "Syvotskimon! Lunar Meteor!" Several large rocks surrounded SuperStarmon as I attacked. "Lunar Eclipse!" A round circle appeared at his feet and began to drain his energy. I waited until he fell to his knees and his fractal code appeared. "This is the last place you'll ever bother. Fractal code, digitise." I didn't bother with any cheesy sayings. SuperStarmon was reconfigured and we watched as his… egg flew off. I collapsed onto my knees as my human self and Harry ran over to me, "Amber! Are you okay?" I nodded and shakily stood up. "I'm fine." Harry grinned, "Thank you, for saving me." I shrugged, "It was nothing." Harry's smile faded. "Oh, but it was." He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek and began to walk back towards the house. "You coming?" Blushing, I followed him. Could it be that I wanted him to kiss me?

Does Amber like Harry? And why is Merukimon turning digimon evil? Find out on the next "Return of the Spirits!"


	12. Solar, Metal and an Old Annoyance

**A/N: hope i'm doing well. Tell me if i'm doing something wrong or brought anything in too soon. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: Unless your pet dog flies, I don't own digimon**

I stared at Harry as we climbed the stairs to go back to our room. Finally, he seemed to realise it, "Why are you staring at me?" I blushed and looked away, "Why did you kiss me?" Harry grinned, "Okay, I guess I brought that one on myself. I don't really know. I wanted to thank you for saving me." I nodded and the silence fell again. In a few minutes, Harry was asleep, but thoughts kept flying through my mind and I kept tossing and turning. _Why did it mean so much to me? Could it be that I actually __**like**__ the idiot? Wait, did I just call him an idiot? Why'd I do that? True, he did throw an empty water barrel at a digimon, but still! Oh, God. I do like him! _Eventually, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, filled with Harry kissing me and SuperStarmon. The next morning, Harry and I prepared to leave. Burgermon had given us several burgers each for the road and was now saying goodbye, "Are you sure you have to go? You can stay here for a few more days if you want!" Her voice was hopeful, but I shook my head, "No, we'd best be going. We need to find our friends." Harry sharply turned his head towards me, but I pretended not to notice. Burgermon nodded and sighed, "Fair enough. Stay safe!" "We will!" I promised as we left the town, "Say goodbye to the TorikaraBallmon for us!" Burgermon nodded and we re-entered the forest. As usual, we were silent for several minutes before Harry spoke, "Did you really mean it when you said that we were going to find our friends?" I shrugged, "I guess I was more using it as an excuse not to stay. We need to find your spirit." Harry nodded, looking slightly disappointed. We walked on in silence until we came to another opening about five miles from Burgermon Town. Walking out, we heard a large explosion and ran forward. It was a large, multi-coloured tree with dozens of bushes surrounding it with what seemed to be eggs growing on them. In the centre of the bushes, a large, bird-like digimon was battling a tree-like digimon and losing. "Just surrender, Swanmon!" The tree-like digimon cackled. Swanmon forced herself up again, "I will **never** surrender this village to Merukimon, Woodmon!" Woodmon glared at her, "Very well. Wooden Tor-" "Stop that this instant!" Harry and I had run over to Swanmon and Harry was trying to convince her to run. I held my hands out in sort of a barricade to protect them, "If you want to get to them, you're going to have to go through me first!" Woodmon glared at me, "Somehow, I'm okay with that." I made my trademark growl-like noise and took out my d-tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Syvotskimon! Lunar Meteor!" The rocks that shot towards Woodmon were easily deflected. I gasped in amazement, "Lunar Eclipse!" Woodmon jumped out of the way before my circle could even appear. "He's too fast!" I cried. He smirked at me, "My turn! Branch Drill!" I was knocked out of the air and hit the ground. Harry ran forwards, "Hey! You! Leave Syvotskimon alone!" I sat up, "Harry, no! Get back!" But Harry either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Woodmon frowned at him, "You guys are just like termites. Woody Smash!" Harry was knocked into a bush and didn't move. Woodmon turned back to me, "Solar Shot!" He redirected the sun's beams so that one shone directly on me and one in the bush that Harry fell into. The beam was quickly draining my power. Suddenly I saw a bright flash and Harry walked out of the bush. He held up his d-tector, "I thought I told you to leave her alone. Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His hair shortened to ear level and turned orange, and his eyes became coated with an orange visor. A shield appeared in one hand and a sword in the other. He was coated in a golden armour and a long, orange scarf wound its way around his neck and a belt appeared with a scabbard to hold the sword. Knee high, orange boots appeared. He was, "Hemelsemon!" I stared at Hemelsemon, astonished. He held out his hand, which I took, "You okay, Syvotskimon?" I nodded and turned back too Woodmon, "Now let's show this guy what we're really made of! Lunar Eclipse!" This time, my attack hit due to the fact that he was still staring at Hemelsemon. "Your turn!" I yelled. He nodded, "Solar Dragons!" He threw his sword into the ground at Woodmon's feet and a huge, fiery dragon appeared and attacked. Woodmon screamed and his fractal code appeared. "Now, this is really going to brighten up my day. Fractal code, digitise!" I rolled my eyes as Woodmon's egg flew towards a bush and latched itself on. It seemed that Hemelsemon liked using cheesy sayings as well. Was I the only one who didn't? We both de-digivolved, collapsing to our knees, me because I was injured and Harry because he was both injured and exhausted from digivolving for the first time. After a minute, we stood up and ran over to Swanmon. "Swanmon, are you okay?"Harry asked, stopping. Swanmon nodded and brushed herself down, "Thank you for saving me and welcome to the Village of Beginnings." Harry and I looked at her in confusion, "The Village of Beginnings?" Swanmon nodded, "Where all digi-eggs come to be reborn." So **this** was where the digimon we purified went to. Swanmon smiled at us, "Would you like to stay and rest for a while?" I nodded, "But only for a small while. We need to find our friends." Harry looked at me questioningly and I nodded. This time I really meant it.

Katsuharu sighed in relief as the group finally walked into Steel Town. "Finally. Takuya, I can't believe you thought that if we went to Beanstalk Village that we'd know our way here!" Takuya groaned, "Why do you keep bringing that up?" Katsuharu grinned. It was always fun to annoy Takuya. Leaving the terminal behind, the group paused as a familiar voice cried out, "Stop!" The group groaned and looked ahead to see a familiar figure. "Once again, it is Sagittarimon," sighed Bokomon. "Never anything knew with that mind of his. Same place, same job." The group sighed as Sagittarimon walked forwards, "While I have nothing against you personally, I must demand that you hand over your obsessions." Koichi sighed, "You mean possessions, not obsessions." Sagittarimon nodded and then paused, "Hey, wait. You're those kids from five years ago, aren't you?" The group looked at him, confused, and got into a huddle. "What does he mean, five years ago?" asked Koji. "We were here less than two months ago!" Chiaki frowned, "Maybe time moves more slowly in the digital world than the human world." The others nodded and walked back to Sagittarimon. "Yes, we are," Takuya replied. "So you might want to back off before you get hurt again." Sagittarimon smirked, "I've had a few friends on hold in case you guys came back, and this time you don't have that angel guy to protect you!" Immediately, eight or nine digimon surrounded the group. There was a WaruMonzaemon, Centarumon, Renamon, Guilmon, RiseGraymon, WereGarurumon, Daemon, LadyDevimon and Shakkoumon. Chiaki and Katsuharu began to back away to give the others room, but the Renamon jumped over them, blocking their exit and grabbed them. The others grabbed their d-tectors. Sagittarimon frowned, "I wouldn't do that if you want to save your friends. This is what happens when you don't hand over your obsessions!" Koji rolled his eyes, "You mean possessions!" This time the whole group joined in. But they were angry as they couldn't digivolve and help the other two. "Now hand over your ob-possessions!" Takuya sighed and looked at Chiaki and Katsuharu who were now struggling against Renamon's grip. He reached into his pocket and the others followed his example. They didn't have much, but when they gave Sagittarimon their things, he motioned for their d-tectors as well. They kept a tight hold of them and Renamon tightened her grip on the two, causing Chiaki to gasp in pain. Takuya went to hand his over, regretfully when a voice caused him to look up. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Harry and I stared down at the scene unfolding before us at the bottom of the cliff. Renamon had a grip on two of the kids and the goggle-head… Takuya was about to hand over his d-tector. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I said. The group, including the digimon, looked up. The Renamon was distracted by me for a minute and loosened its grip, allowing the two to wriggle free. We both jumped down to the ground. I landed on one knee and Harry landed almost upright. I looked at him as I stood up. I had never realised how athletic he was. "So. Still want to fight?" Takuya stepped forwards, seeing that Katsuharu and Chiaki were free, snatching his d-tector back so that Sagittarimon wouldn't be able to grab it, "You guys stay back. We'll handle this! Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" "BurningGreymon!" "KendoGarurumon!" "MetalKabuterimon!" "JagerLowemon!" "Zephyrmon!" "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Oceanamon!" "Syvotskimon!" "Hemelsemon!" "Zemelenmon!" "Crushalimon!" Harry and I obediently stayed out of the way with Katsuharu and Chiaki to protect them. They didn't quite know how we could protect them, but Chiaki was frightened and Katsuharu didn't want to see her be hurt, so they went along with it. Harry looked at Katsuharu, "You're the spirit of steel, right? Find your spirit! We'll protect Chiaki!" Katsuharu's eyes widened, "How will you protect her? You don't even have your spirits!" Harry was about to reply when the Daemon, spotting the four, moved in for the attack. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Syvotskimon!" "Hemelsemon!" Katsuharu stared at us in amazement. "What are you waiting for?" Hemelsemon growled as we fended off Daemon. Katsuharu nodded and grabbed his d-tector which produced a map pointing in the direction of a steel building just on top of the cliff. I grabbed him, jumped up to the edge and set him down. He immediately ran inside the building. I jumped back down and ran to help Hemelsemon who was now struggling to block Daemon's attempts to hit Chiaki. "Lunar Eclipse!" Daemon froze as my attack hit, but he quickly broke free. I heard a loud yelling from Katsuharu and he ran outside. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His body grew to the size of Beetlemon's and was covered by a silver steel armour. A small opening appeared at his eyes and a mirror-like shield latched itself onto his arm. A horn grew on either side of his head and branched out to rejoin in the middle. A small piece of red glass appeared over one eye, giving it a mechanic look. He was, "Linseemon!" The others had barely paused the battle to glance at Linseemon, but it gave Sagittarimon and his cronies a chance to gain the upper hand. "Magnetising Strike!" The attack caused all of Sagittarimon's followers to freeze and then show their fractal codes. They all said cheesy sayings and the digimon were reconfigured. Only Sagittarimon was still standing. Linseemon walked forwards. "Metallic Charge!" Sagittarimon fell, weakened tremendously. His fractal code appeared and Linseemon grabbed his d-tector, "Your evil deeds shall soon be undone. Fractal code, digitise!" I sighed with relief as I de-digivolved. Finally! Someone who didn't always use stupid, cheesy phrases! Takuya and the others ran over to Harry and me, "When did you get your spirits?" They all demanded the same question and for once, Katsuharu didn't seem to mind that, although he earned his spirit and saved everyone, he wasn't the centre of attention. We explained everything as best we could as we entered a small building to spend the night in. Zoe looked at us, "So, what you're trying to say is that you want to stick with us?" Harry nodded and for once, I also agreed. It would be nice to finally have some friends to count on, besides Harry. _I'm just not sure around him. _I realised. _We haven't talked properly since he kissed me. _Making up my mind that I would do that the next morning, I settled down into the bed I was sleeping in. In a few minutes, every one of us was sound asleep, not even stirring due to JP's loud snoring.

**Now Chiaki is the only one without a spirit. Will she ever find it, and what will happen with Harry and Amber? Find out on the next: "Return of the Spirits"**


	13. Authors Note

**A/N: **In case of any confusion, Crushalimon is the warrior of ground. I replaced Aluxmon and forgot to mention it. Sorry!


	14. Shadeowomon in Toy Town

**A/N: Thanks for the support you guys. I won't be able to post as frequently now cuz I have summer tests in four weeks and need to study. :(**

**Disclaimer: If you don't own Microsoft, then I don't own digimon**

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining through the open doorway directly onto my face. I looked around me. I seemed to be the only one awake. I looked towards where Harry had been sleeping to see an empty bed. _He must already be awake. _I decided, stretching. Quickly getting up, I walked outside and closed my eyes, feeling the pleasant warmth of the sun on my face. I felt a hand on my shoulder. Normally, I would shove whoever had their hand on me in the stomach, but I already knew who it was. "Hey," Harry said gently. "How are you?" I smiled, "I'm good." He gently kissed the back of my neck and I felt myself go hot. I turned around to face him. His hair was tousled from tossing in the night, but other than that, he looked exactly the same as I saw him when we jumped yesterday. He moved in to kiss me again and I moved forwards as well. Afterwards though, I pulled away, "Harry, we need to talk." He looked vaguely surprised. "Do you have feelings for me? Real feelings?" Harry nodded, a look of ultimate sincerity on his face. I smiled. "Do you have feelings for me?" Harry asked. I nodded and we kissed again. I was still unsure. I knew that there was more that I needed to ask, but I was scared that he would be overwhelmed. I sighed as we broke away, "We'd better wake the others." "Yes, you'd better." Harry and I looked around to see Zoe standing just behind us, smirking. I then realised that she had seen the whole thing. I blushed and walked past her inside. I could hear her and Harry having a conversation, but I tried to block it out of my mind. I quickly woke the others and walked back outside to see Harry looking very uncomfortable. _What's going on here?_ I thought suspiciously, but immediately pushed the thoughts out of my mind. I trusted Harry completely, didn't I? Takuya took out his d-tector. "Why are you doing that?" I asked, confused. "Angewomon has been sending us the locations of the spirits. Now we only need Chiaki's, and we have no idea where or what it is, so we need her help more than ever." Eventually, a voice came through, "Children, I have good news and bad news," We all stared at Takuya's d-tector in anticipation. "First the good news. The remaining three spirits, Hope, Friendship and Love, cannot be used by Merukimon." This comment was met by cheers all around, except for Harry and I who had no idea who Merukimon was. "But the bad news is that I don't know where they are, and you need to find two more humans to claim them. Chiaki, I don't know what spirit yours is, but I do know that it is imperative that you claim it, and not the other two. If that happens, it would mean the difference between saving the digital world and losing it forever." We all stared at one another in dismay and I edged closer to Harry. He put his arm around me, bringing me closer. I had a feeling that he needed me just as much as I needed him. "We'll do our best, Angewomon." Replied Takuya. We all nodded and added our agreement. "Very well. Be careful!" Came her last words as the d-tector became silent.

_Great_. I thought._ Now, not only do we need to find three more spirits, but two more kids to top it off. _A split second later, everyone began voicing their opinions on the matter at once. "Great! More treasure hunting!" "Yea, it's not like we have anything more important to do!" "Like, I don't know, trying to defeat Merukimon!" Through all of this, Harry, Chiaki and I stayed silent. Chiaki was blushing ten shades of red, embarrassed that her spirit was one of the three we still needed to search for. Seeing this, I walked forwards, "You guys, don't fight over this. We're going to have to find them whether we like it or not." Zoe glared at me, "You would say that. You whose parents are so **good** at dealing with problems at hand. Whose parents are the hackers that crashed several websites illegally and ran away when confronted! They stole several hundred dollars, didn't they!" I stood staring at her, astonished, "H-how d-did you kn-know?" "To get back to Japan last year, we had to make a stop-over in New York. Your name and family was all over the news." I felt tears entering my eyes, but quickly blinked them away. I looked around at the others who were giving me questioning glances. I nodded, "It's true. My parents **did** steal several hundred dollars, but I didn't, and when I came to Japan, I ran away and came to relatives who took me in." I then looked to Zoe who seemed to be regretting blurting out my secret, "And I thought of you as a friend! I never thought you, of all people, Zoe, would stab me in the back like this." The tears were now freely running down my face. I let out a small sob and shoved her out of the way and ran towards the terminal. "Amber, wait!" I heard the sound of pounding feet as I ran into the terminal. For once, luck was in my favour as a Trailmon was there. I jumped aboard, but just as the doors were about to close, Harry and Chiaki sprinted on, running face first into the wall. I looked out the window and saw that the others, including Zoe, were sprinting, trying to keep up with the moving Trailmon. I stood up, about to run into another kart when Harry caught my arm. "Amber, why did you run off like that?" he asked. I wriggled free of his grip. For once, his presence didn't comfort me, "Because you and the others hate me now," I sobbed, unable to even **hide** the tears, "How could you not? My parents probably stole from each and every one of your families!" Harry grabbed me by both arms, a fierce look in his eyes, "Amber, what your parents did does not show what kind of person **you** are. The others agree. Zoe was wrong to say that, but you were wrong not to tell us in the first place."I nodded, the tears slowing. He tilted my chin up so that I could look into his eyes. "Zoe, aside from me, was the first person to run after you." He told me. This surprised me. From her voice when she told everyone, I had thought that she had ultimately declared a private war with me. "Promise me that you will never run off like that again." I nodded, "I promise." He then leaned forward and kissed me. I closed my eyes and leaned into the kiss. A few seconds later, we heard a loud cough, followed by a giggle. We broke away, blushing. We had completely forgotten that Chiaki was with us. "No, no. Keep going," she giggled. "I don't mind." Harry scratched the back of his head awkwardly. I walked over to Chiaki and sat down. "I'm going to check with Trailmon where we're going," Harry said, opening the kart door. "That way we can send word to the others." Chiaki and I nodded. When he left, Chiaki sat down beside me, "So, are you and Harry going out?" I shrugged, "I don't exactly know. We never talked about it." Chiaki looked shocked, "How can you not have talked about it? You have to!" I sadly nodded, "I know," I replied. "It's just that… when I was still in America, I had a good friend called Ted. He was smart, cute, funny, everything that I wanted. One day, when we were twelve he asked me out and I jumped at the chance. But a week after we started dating, things started going wrong. He punched me, sexually abused me, and cheated on me with my best friend, Natasha." Chiaki was staring open mouthed at me now. "The last straw was when he tried to do it with me. I ran off and told my parents. They weren't hackers at the time and had a lot of time for me. They called the police and he was arrested and went to prison for two months. Before he left, he promised to get revenge on me. Luckily, we moved a few days before he was let out. But that's why I haven't talked to Harry yet." Chiaki stared at me and slapped me. Hard. I cried out in shock and glared at her in anger, "What was that for?!" Chiaki's expression didn't change, "I know that it must have been very hard for you then, but Harry is not like Ted!" I nodded, rubbing my sore cheek, "I know." "You need to talk to him. Now!" I nodded again and sighed. At that moment, he walked back into the room, "Apparently, we're going to Toy Town." I raised an eyebrow and Chiaki gazed at him, confused. Harry shrugged, "I don't know any more than you do." I sighed and twiddled my fingers in anticipation. Chiaki, understanding, stood up, "I'm going to see if there's a food kart. I'm starving!" she said, leaving the kart. I motioned for Harry to sit down beside me. "We need to talk. Properly." I said. He nodded, assuming that it was something like this morning. I took a deep breath, "Harry, are we going out? Because if we're not, I don't know what to do because we can't make a relationship just out of kissing." Harry's eyes widened both in hurt and semi-anger. I gulped but continued to tell him the story of my relationship with Ted, "I just don't want to go through anything like that again." This time, his eyes only had plain hurt in them. He shook his head, "I can't believe that you think I'd do something like that." I shook my head, wishing that I had never said anything. "I don't, but I don't want a relationship not built on trust and communication." "I never knew you felt that way," he said. "But since you do, Amber, will you be my girlfriend?" I nodded and hugged him. He tensed for a second before grinning and resting his head on mine. Chiaki walked back into our kart at this moment, a grim look on her face, "We have some trouble."

We stepped outside the Trailmon and looked around. The track had ended and there was no sign of Toy Town. "Where do we go now?" Harry asked, hands in his pockets. "You have to get a plane there." Explained Trailmon. "One of the ToyAgumon will fly you there. Just go into the airport." We nodded and began walking towards the large building ten feet away from the train tracks. A small voice in the back of my head told me that this was a bad idea, but I shook it off and followed the other two into the building. Inside there was a ToyAgumon behind a long desk. "Welcome! Would you like to go to Toy Town?" it asked, politely. We nodded and it leaped over the desk, grabbing a large pair of goggles in the process. In a few minutes, they were in a small airplane flying over a floating island. Eventually, they landed and the group climbed out of the plane. "When you want to return, talk to one of the other ToyAgumon in the town. We nodded and he took off in his plane again. Harry gazed around. It was like a gigantic playground. There were toys and stuffed animals of every type and even a candy house! Spotting a Monzaemon, we cautiously walked over to it. Seeing us, he smiled like we were his Christmas and birthday presents combined and ran over. "Kids! Finally! Something to play with!" Skidding to a halt, we charged in the other direction. It was pretty traumatising to be thought of as something to play with. "Oh, so we're playing tag! I'm on!" We sprinted for a large boat in the middle of a fair-like area and climbed aboard. We waited until the Monzaemon had passed us by and we stood up only to be sent flying backwards. We were on one of those Viking-ship rides. We clung onto anything that was stable and screamed our heads off. Just when I thought I would lose my lunch if we didn't get off the ride soon, it slowed to a halt. We shakily climbed off and collapsed on the grass. "Next time, we hide in a house." I suggested. The two nodded in agreement and stood up. "Maybe we should split up and look for somewhere to stay while we wait for the others," Chiaki suggested. "We already told them where we are, so it shouldn't be long before they catch up!" Harry and I nodded. "I'll look at that… lavender castle." I said, pointing towards the building. "I'll look by where we landed." Added Harry, already backing towards the location. Chiaki nodded, "And I'll look over by… that giant… ball pit." We all separated, going towards our own destination. I walked up to the large moat that led to the castle. As I stepped onto the grass, I gasped in fright and shock. Behind me, the moat closed up, trapping me. Almost immediately, I was surrounded by black versions of the ToyAgumon. _ShadowToyAgumon. A virus that bullies younger children. His toy flame is not going to warm you up._ Well, now I know my d-tector is like a miniature encyclopaedia. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Syvotskimon!" The ShadowToyAgumon began piling on top of one another to make a huge robot. I stared at it in astonishment. How could I defeat it? It was at **least **twice my size as Syvotskimon! "Lunar Eclipse!" My attack was too small to even hold half of its foot down. "Lunar Meteor!" It knocked a few of the digimon off of the robot's left arm, but several more jumped up to take their place. "Block Punch!" I was thrown back by the force of the attack and I hit the ground. "Toy Flame!" I was sent sprawling into a nearby wall and I de-digivolved. I couldn't stand up, I was so weakened by their attack. They jumped down from one another and several ran over to me and tied my hands behind my back. I was then hoisted onto the shoulders of about ten of them. I couldn't believe that I was being captured by a digimon that couldn't even carry me! They unlocked the door of a small tower and half-carried, half-dragged me down the stairs. I lay at the bottom, groaning as they fled upstairs and bolted the door, locking me in. Eventually, I had enough strength to pick myself up and walk over to a wall to lean against. I closed my eyes, unintentionally, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

I opened my eyes to the sound of a splash and heard someone gasping for breath. "Thanks." I immediately recognised Harry's voice. "It was nothing," replied an unfamiliar voice. "I, Pandamon, will do anything to stop the ShadowToyAgumon." I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Harry! Over here!" Harry looked up at the sound of my voice and rushed over. "Amber, are you alright?" I nodded and wriggled around a bit, "Do you think you could untie me though?" Shakily, he untied me and I threw my arms around him. "I was afraid you wouldn't find me." I whispered into his ear. He smiled and put his arms around me as well. "Amber, I'll always find you. I promise." I nodded and we both stood up. I looked at Pandamon, "Is there another way out of here? The ShadowToyAgumon bolted the door." Pandamon nodded, "Follow me." We followed her up another flight of stairs to a small trap door which she opened. We were now outside the castle. "Go and replenish your energy. When you are stronger, then come back and fight." We both nodded and ran towards the Viking ship where Chiaki was waiting. We quickly filled her in and soon we were all walking back towards the castle. Despite our objections, Chiaki insisted on coming. "Who's gonna yell to the others to show them where we are if I don't? You two will be battling the ShadowToyAgumon, right?" I had to admit, she had a point. Once again, the moat was open and we ran across. And once again, the moat closed and we were surrounded by the ShadowToyAgumon. "Can't we just get along?" Harry asked, dodging an attack. He was obviously trying to make it look like he was panicking and he was doing a great job of it. His eyes had widened, he was shaking, the only reason I knew he was faking was because his eyes were shining with amusement. The ShadowToyAgumon , not realising that he was faking, shook their heads and attacked again. Harry stopped dodging and stood still for a minute before raising his right hand to his left shoulder to reveal his d-tector, "Very well, then." I also held mine up as I prepared for battle, "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Syvotskimon!" "Hemelsemon!" The ShadowToyAgumon began piling on top of one another again, but this time, made two of the robots! We stared at them, and then began attacking. "Lunar Meteor!" "Solar Dragons!" The attacks had barely any effect and the robots sent them towards us again. I screamed in pain as Hemelsemon's dragon hit me rather than the robot and I felt myself de-digivolve. I looked up and saw Hemelsemon grimace before attacking again. "Burning Flare!" The robot easily bounced the attack back towards him and he yelled out before de-digivolving and he hit the ground.

I ran over to him, but he was half-unconscious. "Chiaki, you have to believe you can do this!" I heard him say before he passed out. I looked over to her. She was shivering and her eyes were wide open. "He's right, Chiaki. Only you can do this." I said encouragingly. She nodded and in a second, all traces of fright were gone from her eyes. She walked forwards and put her arms out in a shield-like motion as if to protect us. "You will never harm my friends again. I believe that good will overcome you and your master! I BELIEVE!" There was a flash of light and a spirit shot out from one of the castle windows towards Chiaki. She held up her d-tector which absorbed it and held it up. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her hair grew to her waist, one half white, one half black. Her body was covered with a swirling black-and-white armour. On her left, her arm was long with black claws at the end of it. On her right, it was shorter with a white fingerless glove on it. Wings grew on her back, both white and her legs were long with two knee high black boots. She grabbed a white bow and a black bull whip from the air and put them in two pockets in her back. She was the warrior of Hope, "Shadeowomon." Shadeowomon glared at the two robots who stood flabbergasted. "Dark Arrow!" The robot in front went to block it, but it went right through it causing the ShadowToyAgumon to break apart. The second robot stared at its fallen comrade just long enough for Shadeowomon to attack again. "Light Whip!" The second robot broke apart and she flew over to the fallen digimon, d-tector in hand, "Let the light of hope will be your guide! Fractal code, digitise!" The ShadowToyAgumon didn't become digi-eggs, but went back to their normal selves. Chiaki flew down to the ground and de-digivolved, perfectly normal. I ran over to her, "That was brilliant, but how aren't you exhausted?" Chiaki shook her head, "I don't know, but I'm glad. We might be attacked again and you might need my help." I nodded as one of the ToyAgumon walked up to us, "Thank you for saving us. If it hadn't been for you, who knows what would have happened!" We nodded and turned to Harry who had just sat up, rubbing the back of his head, "What happened?" Chiaki and I giggled and grabbed him by each arm, pulling him up. "Chiaki earned her spirit!" I cheered. Harry grinned, "Really? That's amazing! Well done!" Suddenly, we heard yelling and looked up to see the others crossing the bridge. I smiled widely and we ran over to them. Zoe flung her arms around me, tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry Amber. I don't know what came over me." I hugged her back and grinned, "Its fine, Zoe." Zoe grinned and wiped the tears from her eyes. We all began walking towards a plane with the ToyAgumon in it. "So, back already? Suit yourselves." He shrugged and we took off.

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Shinya and Lyra

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own digimon**

Shinya Kanbara sighed. His older brother, Takuya, had left for Koji's house a mere ten minutes ago, but he was already bored out of his mind. Shinya had recently had his birthday and was now ten. His brown hair was a shade lighter than Takuya's and was kept short. He was wearing an orange jumper with a yellow smiley face on it and brown cargo pants that didn't even attempt to cover his grey shoes and white socks. Takuya had promised to watch Shinya's soccer match, but it was less than half an hour away. Suddenly, Shinya's phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, Shinya was praying that it was Takuya saying he was on his way home. But it wasn't. It was an unknown sender.

_Do you want to play?_

Under the message there were two buttons, _yes _and _no_. Shinya rolled his eyes and assuming it was his soccer coach making sure he was able to play in the match, he clicked yes.

_Shinya Kanbara. This is the game that will decide your future. Do you want to play?_

Shinya gasped and brought his phone closer, "What do you mean, my future?"

_ Take the 6.00 train from Jiyuugaoka to Shibuya._

Shinya looked at the clock. It was now 6.00. _I can make it if I run!_ He thought, grabbing his brown bag. Running towards the station, he stopped at the ticket booth and searched for money. "Damn it, mom! You had to go shopping today!" he cried, banging his head on the machine. A ticket popped out, red rather than white, but it would do. Running upstairs, Shinya hopped onto the train as the doors closed behind him and breathed a sigh of relief as he sank down onto an empty chair. Around half-way there, his phone vibrated again.

_ Transfer to the 6.15 underground._

Shinya growled and looked at his watch. It was now 6.11. He would have to run. As soon as he got off the train, he ran to the familiar elevator and pressed down. Hopping into the elevator, he was about to press the _close doors_ button when a girl around his age ran in. She nodded in greeting as he pressed the button and the doors closed. He looked up at the dial and gripped the railing. They were way below basement level! The girl shrieked and they came to a sudden, jittery stop and the doors opened. They stepped out into an underground station, full of trains and people socialising.

_ It is up to you now. What train will you chose?_

Shinya nodded in farewell to the girl and he jumped onto a silver train. _Great. I would get the train with no one on it!_ He thought, sitting on one of the leather seats. The doors closed at exactly 6.15 and still no one else had boarded the train. Shinya closed his eyes. His coach was going to kill him for missing the match. Suddenly, the line became rough and Shinya had to grab the railing so as not to fall off of the seat. After a minute, the track became smooth again and in a few minutes, the train came to a stop. Shinya stepped out into a terminal made out of metal, but surrounded by forest. He took out his phone and gasped in surprise. In its place was a small orange and yellow device.

_Shinya Kanbara. Welcome to the digital world. This is your d-tector. Use it to find your spirit._

Shinya gasped, "What are you talking about? What's a spirit?"

_Some other children who will grow to be great friends of yours will arrive shortly. Wait here until then._

Shinya nodded as the screen of his d-tector went blank. He walked over to a bench and sat down. _I'm guessing that this is going to be a long day._

I looked out the window of the Trailmon. We were going to the Flame Terminal because the group said that most of their adventures begin there and that's where **they** first met, so there's a chance that the other two would arrive there. Most of the group were talking, but Harry and I were sitting down silently, his arm around my shoulders. "You okay?" he whispered gently into my ear. I nodded and smiled sweetly in reply. Eventually, we pulled to a stop and climbed out of the Trailmon. We were just outside the terminal and there was no one in sight. Walking inside, we spotted a young boy around Tommy's age looking at his yellow and orange d-tector. "Hey there! Are you here from the human world?" Takuya called. The boy nodded, looked up and gasped, "Takuya?" Takuya stared at the young boy who ran up to him, "Shinya?" Shinya nodded and Koji, Koichi, JP, Zoe and Tommy gasped in shock. The rest of us looked from Takuya to Shinya and back to Takuya again, not quite understanding. _They look so alike! The same face, hair, even the same d-tector shades! _I thought. "They're brothers," Koichi whispered to us. "Shinya didn't know about the digital world because Takuya didn't tell him, so needless to say, they're a bit surprised to see one another." I nodded, finally understanding. Takuya was growing red in the face, "Shinya, what are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous it is?" Shinya was shrinking backwards, his face pale. Koji laid a hand on Takuya's shoulder. Takuya turned around to face him, "What?" Koji, who I expected to grow angry at Takuya's tone, kept a calm face, "Takuya, Shinya's here for a reason. Angewomon must have sent for him." Takuya nodded, seeing the logic in this, and turned back to his younger brother, "Shinya, did you get any emails on your phone?" Shinya nodded and told Takuya and the rest of us everything that had happened. After he finished, Takuya nodded, calm again. "Okay then. Guys, this is my younger brother, Shinya. Shinya, you already know Koji, Koichi, Tommy, JP and Zoe. This is Chiaki, Teruo, Katsuharu, Teppei, Harry and Amber. Oh, and Bokomon and Neemon, two digimon friends of ours." Shinya nodded to each of us in turn as we were introduced. I grinned at the little kid. "Um… Takuya? What are we supposed to do here?" he asked. Takuya crouched down so that he was at his younger brothers level, "We need to save the digital world. Since you have a d-tector, you're a part of this and need to help us out by finding your spirit. You got all that?" Shinya nodded, looking a bit uncertain. Suddenly, they heard a loud noise as another Trailmon came into the terminal. As it stopped, a young girl, the same age as the rest of us stepped out. She had forest green hair down to her waist with a purple flower hair clip pinning it back. She was wearing a purple, long-sleeved tank top with a pair of light blue, denim shorts. Her eyes were also a forest green, and her purple converse shoes were slightly too big. She was holding a green and purple d-tector. She didn't seem to notice the group yet, for she was in the usual conversation with her d-tector.

_Lyra Hidaka. This is your d-tector. Use it to find your spirit and save the digital world._

Lyra glared at her d-tector, "What **are** you talking about? And where am I?"

_All will be revealed in due time. In the mean time, I believe that your new friends are waiting for you._

With that, her d-tector screen went blank and she looked around. Spotting us, she grinned and ran over. She glanced at Shinya, "Hey, you're the kid from the elevator earlier, aren't you?" Shinya nodded and grinned. Once again, everybody was introduced and soon, the group were sitting on the grass, discussing what to do. "Well, I think that finding your spirits is the most important matter." Koji commented, his arms crossed. Zoe nodded in agreement, "But where could they be?" Katsuharu shrugged, "It seems that generally, we're just in the right place at the right time." Chiaki nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, maybe if we just wander around, one of the spirits will be where we are?" I suggested. Teruo glared at me and shook his head, "And what if we go right by it? We need to think this through." Suddenly, Lyra's d-tector started beeping and she took it out. A large map had appeared and there was an arrow pointing towards the forest. Without the others noticing, she stood up and began to walk quietly away. I watched her and stood up as well, "I need to stretch my legs. I'll be back soon." They all nodded and resumed their conversation. I followed Lyra and soon she stopped and the map disappeared. Looking around, she spotted a large cave. I sighed and began to follow her. Eventually, we came to a dead end. She stopped abruptly, causing me to bump into her. She turned and glared at me, "What are you doing here?" I blushed under her harsh stare, "I came in case you needed any help." She sighed and turned around, "Just don't get in my way. I came here to find my spirit, and you're not getting the credit for it." I glared at her and looked for a way down. The only way was a metal pole. Grabbing it, she slid down and landed on her feet. Not liking the idea of having a huge argument with her, I stayed and the ledge. After looking around for a few minutes, she sighed, "I guess it's not here." She was about to attempt climbing back up the pole when a slight disturbance stopped her. Well, actually, **grabbed **her."Stop right there!" It was a girl I had never seen before. She had light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes which were unusually dull. Her knee length dress was purple with a velvety, black hem. Her leggings, ankle boots and wrist gloves were all black and her bracelet was purple. Lyra struggled against her iron strong grip, eventually elbowing her in the stomach causing her to clasp her stomach giving Lyra a chance to escape. The girl stood upright again and glared at Lyra who grabbed a discarded metal pole, "Who are **you**?" The girl smirked and snapped her fingers as a digimon came out of the shadows, "I'm Kari, your worst nightmare. Nefertimon, ready!" I ran forward and jumped off of the ledge, not even bothering to use the pole, "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Syvotskimon!" Nefertimon flew towards me, leaving Kari to battle with Lyra who defended herself using the metal pole to defend herself. I turned my attention back to Nefertimon, "Rosetta Stone!" I quickly dodged the attack which hit a nearby wall, "Lunar Eclipse!" The attack hit, causing Nefertimon to freeze. Lyra was fighting Kari ninja style. It was pretty obvious that she had taken lessons at Tae Kwon Do or something like it because she was winning. Kari, escaping the head lock Lyra had her in, ran over to her digimon, "Nefertimon! What are you doing?! Attack!" "Need a little help?" We all looked up to see a boy around Kari's age emerge from a nearby tunnel. His blonde hair was almost covered by his black hood. His black pants almost completely covered his dark grey shoes. His eyes were a brilliant blue eyes that were almost completely hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses he was wearing. Kari grinned, "TK. Brilliant. You want a piece of the action?" TK nodded and snapped his fingers, signalling a brown, horse-like digimon to come out of the tunnel behind him. "Pegasusmon, help Nefertimon out." He commanded as he and Kari advanced on Lyra, causing her to back closer to the gaping hole in the middle of the floor. "Star Shower!" Pegasusmon's attack freed Nefertimon, causing me to take my eyes off of Lyra and concentrate on the battle, "Lunar Meteor! Lunar Eclipse!" This time, they were ready and dodged my attacks easily. They swooped in side by side, blocking any exits, "Golden Noose!" The rope of light wound its way around me and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't break through. "Rosetta Stone!" "Equus Beam!" The attacks hit me head on, still not breaking the rope. I fell to my knees, weakened. I thought about my attacks. Was there any I could use in my condition? It was worth a shot! "Imperial Shine!" The attack was wavering, weak and it was my first time using the move, but it managed to hit Pegasusmon and Nefertimon even though it barely affected them. Pegasusmon shook his head and glared at me, "Now you're going to get it! Star Shower!" "Beam of Isis!" I let out a small scream as the attacks hit and I de-digivolved. The rope-light, which had been made to fit Syvotskimon, loosened and I was able to slip out. "Golden Noose!" I grimaced as the rope looped around me again. I fell to my knees as Nefertimon and Pegasusmon took defensive positions on either side of me, making sure that I couldn't escape. I looked over at Lyra. She had succeeded in wounding the two and was still violently attacking with the pole, but was growing tired. Within a few minutes, Kari was pushing one arm up between her shoulder blades and TK had her pole and was trying to use it to trip her while she attempted to grab the pole with one hand. Kari began to force her towards the hole in the middle of the room, "A kid with no spirit yet? You're no use to us!" Lyra, realising her intentions, stopped trying to retrieve her pole and began struggling. "Don't worry. We'll just take your friends spirit instead." Kari said, pushing Lyra even closer to the hole. Lyra immediately looked over to me; the resilience that had filled her forest green eyes was immediately replaced by anger. She began struggling even more fiercely, trying to get over to me. Kari frowned and tried to grasp her with both hands. In the end, it took the strength of both TK and Kari to hold her still. "Say goodbye, spiritless kid!" TK whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear him. They pushed Lyra in and she let out a loud scream. "Lyra!" I cried, finally breaking free of the rope-light. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon moved in to stop me, but Kari held up a hand, signalling to allow me to run to the hole. Tears sprang to my eyes as I saw the last strands of her hair disappear as I arrived, "Lyra… I'm so sorry." I whispered. I felt a hand on my shoulder as Kari wrenched me back, "Now, hand over your spirit!" I wriggled free of her grip and grabbed my d-tector although I knew that I was too weak to fight. "I will never give up my spirit! You killed my friend, and now you're going to pay!" I snarled. Suddenly, I saw a bright flash and heard Lyra's voice, "Spirit!" When she jumped out of the hole, she had a purple and white armour, rather like Kazemon's. Her hair, which was now white, had grown short at the very back and grew longer closer to the front. A pair of purple sunglasses covered her eyes and a pair of purple gloves and boots worked their way onto her hands and feet. Two white wings appeared on her back which folded down into pockets. A pair of swords appeared and she grabbed them, putting them into the wing-pockets. She was, "Flasinamon!" I stared at her in astonishment as she advanced on Nefertimon and Pegasusmon. "Sword Master!" She grabbed her swords and slashed at the two digimon, who very narrowly avoided the attack. "What the- how is she so strong?" Pegasusmon gasped. Flasinamon walked forwards even further, "Flare Arrow!" Pegasusmon jumped out of the way, but it hit Nefertimon. "You never should have messed with my friend. Fractal code, digitise!" Nefertimon, instead of becoming an egg again, became a small orange-and-purple cat like digimon. "Sword Master!" This time, Pegasusmon couldn't dodge the attack, due to the close range. "And now, you're going to pay. Fractal code, digitise!" Once again, instead of becoming an egg, Pegasusmon became a small, white, dog like digimon with sharp teeth and antenna. I looked over to TK and Kari who were both on the floor, but to my amazement, their fractal codes were showing as well. I walked over to them, "It's a shame it had to come to this. Fractal code, digitise!" They were surrounded by a blinding white flash and when I looked at them again, they were completely different.

TK's hair was now covered by a large, white fishing hat and he was wearing a blue and yellow jumper. His pants, which were grey, barely reached knee level. His green boots were ankle height and purple socks could be easily seen.

Kari was wearing a pink and white polo neck, short sleeved t-shirt with pink, elbow length gloves. Her yellow shorts were held up by an orange belt and her shoes were pink and white. For some reason, she had a large camera around her neck.

I walked over to them and grasped them by the shoulders, "You're coming with us!" The two struggled until they saw my d-tector and obviously realised that I… we could do serious damage. Lyra picked up the two digimon and handed them to the two. "Nyaromon!" Kari cried, "Are you alright?" TK hugged the white digimon tightly, tears in his eyes, "Tokomon. No!" We quickly climbed the pole, one of us at the back the whole time in case the two tried to escape. But oddly enough, no one did. Eventually, we reached the camp, where the others were getting worried about Lyra and myself. They looked up as we entered with Kari and TK and the two sat on the ground, cuddling their defeated digimon. Takuya in particular stared at me, "How did you manage to save them?"

**Why did Takuya want to save them? Is it possible that they weren't evil? Find out on the next "Return of the Spirits!"**

**Please review and tell me how I'm doing**


	16. Bakemon, Batmon and DemiDevimon

**A/N: Okay, I have gotten ideas from the show, so thanks to all of you who are reading this!**

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC's and the new legendary warriors of wood, metal, steel, water, hope, friendship, lunar, solar and love**

Lyra and I stared at Takuya, "What do you mean "save them"? They almost destroyed us!" At this, Kari stood up, "We didn't mean to. We were under Merukimon's control!" I glared at her, "Okay, this has gone far enough. Will someone please tell me who the fuck Merukimon is!" Takuya and the others stared at me in astonishment. Harry, Lyra and Shinya nodded in agreement, "We don't know and you haven't exactly told us." Takuya nodded, "Merukimon is a digimon who used to be good, but someone turned him evil. He uses control spheres and a special move to make people join him. TK, Kari and a few others you haven't met yet were under his control." I nodded, finally understanding. I turned to TK and Kari, "Sorry I didn't believe you." Kari smiled, "It's fine. I would have had a hard time believing it myself." She then turned to Takuya, "But we're pretty much useless here. Is there any way we can get back home?" Takuya nodded, "A Trailmon will bring you to Shibuya station. Ken and Yolei have already left and Matt is still in the human world. Don't worry about the others. We'll save them." TK and Kari nodded and walked into the terminal where a Trailmon agreed to take them back to the human world. They waved to us in farewell as the Trailmon left and soon became too small to see. Takuya turned and glared at me, "Why did you go and battle all by yourself? And why'd you bring Lyra? You could have gotten seriously hurt!" I blushed and was about to answer when Lyra stepped out in front of me, "It wasn't her fault! She was trying to help me! I went looking for my spirit, and found it, but that's not here nor there, and if she hadn't been there, I would have died!" Takuya took a step back, regretting confronting me. "And furthermore, if she hadn't come, we wouldn't have rescued TK and Kari!" Takuya thought about it for a moment and then nodded apologetically at us. Harry walked over and put his arm around me. I looked up at him and he smiled, "Well done. I'm really proud of you." He kissed me quickly and I blushed, "Why? I didn't do anything except almost get killed!" Harry blinked and kissed me again. This was becoming a routine! "That's not what I heard!" he nodded towards Lyra and I began listening to her story. "Nefertimon was about to attack me and then Amber ran and flipped off of the ledge, kicking Nefertimon and knocking her into the wall! Then she spirit evolved and nearly defeated her when TK…" I then stopped listening and turned to Harry, "She's exaggerating! I never did any of that… except spirit evolve." Harry smiled, "I know, but I do believe that you saved her from Nefertimon." I shrugged, blushing ten shades of red. Hearing a slight beeping noise, we looked up to see Shinya take out his d-tector. It produced a small map with a blinking dot in the middle. He tugged on Takuya's sleeve and pointed to the map. Takuya nodded, took Shinya's hand and began walking over to Harry and me. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Um… guys? Shinya needs to find his spirit and we need to talk about the Beast Spirits." He explained. Beast Spirit? That was news to me. "Katsuharu, Chiaki, Teruo, Teppei and Kijai's are most likely to appear first, so could you and Lyra help him look for his spirit?" Harry nodded and I facepalmed. There was nothing I could do about it now.

As our small group of four walked away, I sighed. I would have loved to look for my Beast Spirit! Harry, who was right beside me, put his arm around my shoulders, "What's wrong?" I shook my head and smiled at him, "Nothing. I just wish I could have looked for my Beast Spirit." Harry nodded, "So would I, but we promised Takuya." I chose not to point out that I didn't. **Harry **was the only one who had promised. We walked for a while more, eventually coming to an open, desolate plain. Shinya looked around and then back at his d-tector. According to it, we were right on top of his spirit. Suddenly, I heard a whizzing noise, like something very small was shot, go right past my ear and Lyra collapsed. We ran over to her to see a small dart in her arm. "Shinya! Harry! Get down! Harry looked around, refusing to drop, and sidestepped the dart that came for him. Shinya, trying to copy him, clung onto his shirt in an attempt to hide. Harry and Shinya quickly sidestepped another dart, but a second one hit Shinya in the arm and he fell backwards. Harry and I slowly backed into one another, sidestepping opposite ways when a dart came. Two came whizzing through the air towards us and I stayed in the middle, hoping that there was enough space. One completely went by me and the other grazed my arm. I felt woozy and fell to my knees. Harry looked at me and ran over. If I was having a reaction like this to a mere graze, what would happen if I had received a full dose? Hearing another dart, Harry grabbed his d-tector. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Hemelsemon!" Deflecting the dart, he raised his arms over Lyra, Shinya and myself, "Celestial Blessing!" I felt my energy being replenished and in a few seconds, I was back to full strength. But Hemelsemon's energy was depleting and Shinya and Lyra still hadn't woken up. He de-digivolved and fell to his knees, looking up hopefully. Seeing that Shinya and Lyra were still out cold, he angrily punched the ground. Forgetting about the darts, I ran over to him. He looked up and his brown eyes met my amber ones. We stood up, remembering the dart-thrower, d-tectors at the ready, although I could clearly see that Harry was in no fighting condition. Another few darts flew through the air, one catching me off guard as it hit my leg. I, once again, fell to my knees and pulled out the dart before any more poison could enter my body. It seemed that the lower down they were, the slower the reaction was. Harry crouched down beside me to make sure I was okay. _Big mistake._ I thought, "Harry! Look out!" Too late. The dart hit him in the back of his neck as he was about to turn around and he collapsed. Looking up, I saw two, small bat like digimon approaching. "Good work, DemiDevimon!" One exclaimed, seeing us on the ground. DemiDevimon frowned, "It was a lot harder than expected, Batmon. They have sharp reflexes." Batmon nodded and glared at me, seeing that I was still awake, "What about that one?" DemiDevimon laughed, "The attack grazed her and will take a bit longer to knock her out." Batmon turned back to DemiDevimon, "You know we don't have much time! Merukimon will be furious if we're late!" DemiDevimon frowned, "You're right. One dart should take care of her. Demi… Dart!" I closed my eyes as the dart hit my arm and blanked out.

I groaned and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Harry leaning on top of me, still out cold. Lyra and Shinya were both awake and were sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. We were in a caged room with three walls and bars for a door. Groaning again, I gently pushed Harry off and stood up, "Where are we?" Lyra shrugged, "We were captured by DemiDevimon and Batmon, but that's all we know. What I want to know is **how** we got her! One moment we were out on that plain, the next, we're waking up here!" I sighed, "That bastard, DemiDevimon injected us with something." Lyra growled and clenched her fists. At that moment, a Bakemon came by with some food, "Here. Merukimon wants you strong." We didn't touch the food. The Bakemon glared at us and noticed Harry was still unconscious, "You're gonna need it, and he definitely will. That was a strong dart he took. When he wakes up, try not to talk to him. He'll have a splitting headache." _Wait. This is one of Merukimon's cronies. __**Why**__ is he advising us? _I took the food and nodded in thanks to him. "Why are you helping us?" Lyra asked. The Bakemon looked away, blushing, "I follow Merukimon because his master will restore the digital world to glory. I don't want to see anyone get hurt is all." I grabbed the bars in an attempt to get closer to the digimon, "But if Merukimon's…master takes over, there isn't a single digimon that **won't** get hurt!" The Bakemon seemed to be thinking over what I was saying, when an interruption stopped what might have been our chance of escape. "Bakemon! You know the rules! No talking to the prisoners!" We looked up to see a small, brown haired boy at the top of the stairs, around Shinya's age. He was wearing a black trench coat, a white shirt, jeans and black shoes which looked like they had recently been polished. "Yes, master Cody," replied the Bakemon. He pretended to be handing us in the last of the food and whispered to me, "I'll think about what you said, human. If I decide you're right, you've got a ticket out of here around midnight."

**Will the Bakemon help them? And when will Shinya find his spirit? Find out on the next "Return of the Spirits"!**


	17. Hibutemon of Love and Duskmon Returns!

**A/N: I know this one is short, but I kinda ran out of ideas. I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter. Also, please don't be mad at me for writing two digimon stories at the same time with exams coming up. I'll try and post a chapter a week at least.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own digimon**

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I glanced at my blue wristwatch and sighed. It was now five minutes past midnight. Harry had woken up around eleven and, as the Bakemon had said, had a splitting headache. He was now fast asleep along with Shinya and I'm pretty sure Lyra had just joined them. I sighed and sat down next to them, closing my eyes. "You don't seem very eager to get out of here." My eyes shot open and I looked at the Bakemon in front of the barred door holding a large set of keys. Lyra sat up as she heard the key turn in the lock and helped me wake the other two. It took several minutes to wake Harry who still had a bad headache, but eventually, we were tip-toeing out of the room, following the Bakemon as he guided us through a series of tunnels. We came to a very heavy looking metal door and just as Bakemon was about to open it, we heard a slight cough. Turning around, we saw the boy Bakemon had called Cody. He glared at Bakemon, "To think that you, the general digimon of my army, would become a traitor." I clenched my fists. Clearly, he was one of the kids under Merukimon's control. "Well, I can't exactly have you escape. I'll just have to annihilate you. Merukimon can always capture your friends when they come looking for you." Cody continued as he snapped his fingers. "Ankylomon!" The porcupine like digimon emerged from the shadows as we readied our d-tectors which, amazingly, had not been taken off of us. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" "Hemelsemon!" "Syvotskimon!" "Flasinamon!" Shinya backed towards the Bakemon who put a protective arm in front of him. "Lunar Eclipse!" The attack froze Ankylomon, giving my friends a chance to attack. "Burning Flare!" "Sword Master!" Hemelsemon's attack hit, but when Flasinamon attacked, Ankylomon moved his head, which she had been aiming at, backwards and her sword hit my attack, freeing the digimon. "My turn! Tail Hammer!" The attack caught both me and Flasinamon off guard and he hit us in the stomach with his tail, slamming us into the wall. I grimaced as I pushed myself out. "Lunar Meteor!" "Solar Dragons!" "Flare Arrow!" The attacks, although they all found their mark, had no effect on the yellow digimon's strong armour, "Rhythmical Knock!" We all gasped in pain as the attack hit and we de-digivolved. I forced myself up, seeing Ankylomon turning towards Shinya and the Bakemon, "Leave them alone! Come and fight me!" Harry stood up beside me, as did Lyra, "You're not doing this alone." Harry said, cringing in slight pain. Lyra nodded, holding up her d-tector. We knew we were in no fighting state, but we had to protect Shinya. "No, guys! You'll be killed!" Shinya cried, struggling against the Bakemon's grip. I shook my head, ignoring the younger boys pleas. "No! I know we just met, but I care too much about you to let you go! I love you!" I gasped in shock as the Bakemon started glowing and transformed into a glowing, doll like figure. "SPIRIT!" Shinya yelled, pointing his de-tector at it, "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" A red torso appeared around his waist as his skin turned black and a gold band appeared on his right wrist. A long, black and gold tail grew and his hair turned gold and lengthened to waist level. Another gold band appeared on his left ankle and he did a back flip, catching a long, golden staff in the process. He was, "Hibutemon!" I grinned as he yelled out his name. We had completed our mission. "Striking Heart!" I cringed as the heart-shaped attack hit Ankylomon, sending him reeling. If Takuya saw his brother using that move, he'd never hear the end of it. "Pain of Love!" A black heart, rather like WaruMonzaemon's heartbreak attack, was sent towards Ankylomon. Engulfing, the heart grew bigger and bigger until it exploded, leaving Ankylomon on the ground, his fractal code appearing. As Hibutemon walked forward, d-tector at the ready, I grabbed mine and walked over to Cody, who fractal code had also appeared, "You'll soon be with your friends again. Fractal code, digitise!" A flash of light engulfed him and when I looked at him again, he was in a light brown, kendo like outfit with a pair of brown shoes. Ankylomon had transformed into a creamy coloured egg-like digimon with ears. Cody gasped as he saw the digimon, "Upamon! Are you alright?" The digimon opened its eyes and snuggled into Cody's arms as he picked his digimon partner. I walked up to him as he stood up, "Cody, are you alright?" Cody looked at me, confused. "You're not going to attack me?" I shook my head as Shinya de-digivolved and fell to the ground, "We know it wasn't your fault. You were under Merukemon's control. Kari, TK and… Yolei, I think, have gone back to the human world to meet up with Ken and Matt. They explained everything to us." Cody nodded, "Do you mind if I follow them? I wouldn't be of much help here." I nodded and he followed us out of the tunnel and up into the plain above through a trap door. Retracing our steps, we soon came to the Flame Terminal and said our goodbyes to Cody who climbed onto a Trailmon and left the digital world. I turned to the rest of them, "So. Any ideas where the others are?"

We sat down around a fire as night fell upon the Flame Village. We had attempted contacting the others multiple times, but no luck. Eventually, we decided to stay here for the night and look for the others in the morning. I shivered and edged closer to Harry. Despite the fire it was chilly out and it was hard not to shiver. Soon, we climbed onto the already-made leaf-beds and settled down for the night. I sighed and closed my eyes. I couldn't sleep. I crawled closer to Harry who put his arm around me. I sighed and curled into him. He chuckled and lightly kissed me before closing his eyes. I finally closed mine and was falling into an uneasy sleep when a loud **thud** woke everyone up with a jolt. We looked across at the trees where the sound had come from, but no one came out. Growling, I stood up with Harry and walked over to the trees. Lyra stayed with Shinya in case of an ambush. We cautiously walked over to a figure, lying down on its side on the ground. Turning it onto its back, we gasped in surprise, "Zoe!" The warrior of winds clothes were torn, her hair was tousled and she was covered in bruises and scratches. She blinked open her eyes and groaned, pushing herself into a sitting position. Looking around, panicked she stood up, "Koji and Koichi! Where are they?" I put a calm hand on her shoulder, "We don't know. You're the only one here." Zoe clasped her head, her eyes, bottomless pits of worry. "Why?" Zoe looked up at me, "Duskmon is back!"

Harry and I led Zoe back to our makeshift camp and sat her down on one of the beds. Shinya and Lyra sat down beside her while Harry and I stayed standing, "Now tell us the whole story." Zoe took a deep breath, "Cherubimon was a celestial digimon who was being controlled by Lucemon and when Koichi first came to the digital world, Cherubimon controlled him using the fake spirit of darkness that is Duskmon. Koji saved his brother by defeating Duskmon and we assumed he was destroyed forever. But when we were searching for the beast spirits, Duskmon attacked us. Even with all eleven of us, he had grown too strong to defeat, including when Koji and Koichi DNA spirit evolved." I didn't exactly know what that meant, but I didn't ask. "He defeated us and grabbed Koji and Koichi before we could stop him and handed them to Crusadermon, a Royal Knight who fought alongside Lucemon. Then he created portals and pushed us into random ones." Zoe finished, looking down. I looked at Harry in horror. From the sounds of it, Duskmon wanted to destroy the two brothers! That or torture them. Harry sat down, exhausted, "There isn't much we can do about it tonight, especially with you, Zoe, in this condition. We'll stay here for the night and then in the morning, you can lead us to where you fought Duskmon." We all nodded in agreement, but Zoe stood up and glared at Harry, "What do you mean? We have to find them now! They could be… in… serious trouble…" Zoe faltered as she fell to the ground, Harry catching her just on time, "Zoe, I know you want to find Koichi and your boyfriend, but you're in no state to go out tonight. We'll go first thing in the morning."_Koji and Zoe are dating? That's new!_ I thought. _He never really shows any affection for her and not once have I seen those two kiss! _Zoe nodded and lay back onto the leaf-bed, "I guess you're right. Even if we did find them, we'd be no use like this." I nodded, "Exactly. Now get some sleep and we'll sort everything out tomorrow." We settled down for the second time that night, this time me sharing a bed with Harry seen as Zoe had my bed. _They could be in serious danger. We have to find them quickly! _I thought as I closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.  
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**Please review! :)**


	18. Amber's Dreams

**A/N; Thanks to all you guys who are reading this! It's for you that I write it!  
Disclaimer; I don't own digimon :(**

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I sighed. I had woken up after twenty minutes of sleep and unable to fall back asleep with worry, I had agreed to take the first two night watches, but now, although I felt more awake than ever with the cold wind blowing in my face, my eyes kept drooping and I couldn't stop yawning. Eventually, I walked over to Harry and shook him awake, "Your turn to keep watch." He nodded sleepily and walked over to the fire as I lay down on my part of the bed. I was waiting for several minutes before I closed my eyes and gave a soft sigh as I heard someone whisper, "Nightmare Syndrome!"

I opened my eyes to find that I was surrounded by darkness. Not warm and comforting like Koichi's spirit, but cold and lonely. I looked around as I heard laughing. I saw brief images of Ted coming towards me and I screamed, squeezing my eyes tight shut. I heard the laughter again, this time recognising it as my friends voices. "You're so weak!" I heard Lyra scoff. "Yeah! You were easily defeated by Ankylomon and I, al little kid, was able to beat him!" Shinya taunted. I clenched my fists, "It's not true!"  
"Oh, but it is!" I heard my missing friends and Zoe say in unison. I looked around, tears in my eyes, but I was alone. These voices were inside my head. Seeing Harry, I ran up to him and threw my arms around him, but he pushed me to the ground. I looked up at him, the tears flowing freely down my face. Harry smirked, "You're weak, Amber. Weak, and you always will be!" I shook my head, "IT'S NOT TRUE!"

I opened my eyes. I was back in the camp, but the voices were still in my head, telling me I was weak. Harry looked up at me as I approached, a smile on his face, but in my eyes, he was taunting me, "I am not weak. I am not weak." I repeated, spirit evolving into Syvotskimon even without using my d-tector. Around me, I vaguely saw the others waking up, Zoe chanting something rather like me, "You can't have my boyfriend. You can't have my boyfriend." Harry stared at me in astonishment, "I never said you were weak!" I continued walking towards him, grabbing my lunar shaped pendant, "Imperial Shine!" The beam of moonlight fell on Harry as he fell to his knees, weakened, "I always thought you were strong!" The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own heart pounding, "You do?" He nodded and using his hand to help support his weight, looked up, "And I know you're strong enough to fight this!" _He's right! What am I doing? I'm attacking my best friend and my boyfriend._ I gave a cry of shock as my mind succeeded in driving off the nightmare and I collapsed, de-digivolving. Harry ran over to me, "Are you okay?" I was sobbing gently and I shook my head, "I'm so sorry, Harry." He put his arms around me and rested his head on mine, "It's okay." We both looked up as Zoe digivolved into Zephyrmon and attacked Lyra, "YOU CAN'T HAVE MY BOYFRIEND!" I ran up to her, "Zoe! Lyra doesn't love Koji! Koji loves you!" She looked down at me, but the only thing I could see in her eyes was raw hatred, "I will not forgive someone who tries to steal Koji from me." _Geez. Talk about possessive! _I thought as a bead of sweat ran down my forehead. Hearing a slight rustle, I whipped around. _Wait, this didn't just __**happen**__. That voice I heard earlier, what was it saying? Nightmare Syndrome! That's it! A digimon caused this!_ I grabbed my d-tector and turned to Harry who did the same, "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  
"Syvotskimon!"  
"Hemelsemon!"  
I raised my arms as if about to attack Zoe, "Imperial Shine!" At the last minute, I turned my attack towards the bush, catching a pig like digimon in the bright beam of moonlight, "Now, Hemelsemon!" He nodded and raised his sword, "Solar Dragons!" The pig like digimon squealed in fright as the dragon approached. His fractal code appeared and Hemelsemon walked forwards, breathing slightly heavier than usual, "This is the end of **that** nightmare! Fractal code, digitise!" The digimon turned back into an egg and levitated towards the Village of Beginnings, freeing Zoe who immediately de-digivolved and began to fall. Catching the girl before she could hit the ground, I placed her gently back onto her bed and de-digivolved myself. Harry ran over and put his arms around me, "Do you want to tell us what happened?" I nodded and explained the voice I heard just before I drifted off and my nightmare. Throughout the story, none of them asked any questions, and for some reason, no one asked any afterwards either. I looked at Harry, confused, until I saw the hurt in his eyes, "I'm sorry." He sighed, "It wasn't your fault." This time, there were traces of annoyance in his voice, so I didn't say anything else. He pointed to the beds, "You should all go back to bed. I'll finish the night watch. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Koji opened his eyes and looked around him. He was in a square room with three stone walls and bars for the fourth. He groaned and tried to push himself into a sitting position, but found that he couldn't for his ankle was too painful. He had sprained it when he was fighting Duskmon. Looking around again, he saw an unconscious Koichi chained to a wall. "Koichi!" He cried as the older boys eyes opened. He groaned, rubbed his head and pushed himself up against the wall so that he was able to lean against it. Hearing a clanking sound, he looked down and saw the chains that imprisoned him. He groaned again and turned to his brother who was now holding his ankle, "Koji, are you okay?" Koji nodded and grimaced in pain as a dark figure with long, blonde hair appeared at the door, "We can soon fix that."

My eyes shot open. _Was it a dream? _I distinctly remembered the dark figure. I was the only one awake aside from Harry. I walked over and sat beside him, stretching, "Morning." I got a slight grunt in reply and looked at him. His hair was messy, as if he had run his fingers through it multiple times and his eyes were a tiny bit bloodshot. "Are you okay?" I asked, worried. He nodded as the others began to wake up. They glared at me suspiciously, except for Zoe who grinned warmly. Over a breakfast of meat apples that we found nearby, I told them about my dream of Koji, Koichi and the dark figure. They all rolled their eyes except for Zoe who listened with a thoughtful look on her face. "Another dream, Amber? You sure you're not going to attack us over this one?" Lyra commented, turning her back. I looked at Shinya, who bit his lip and went over to her. Harry merely looked away, but it was enough. "Fine. I'll go alone! And I'll bring Koji and Koichi back safely!" They didn't look at me as I walked away. I heard pounding feet and looked around to see Zoe following me, "I believe you!"

Koji glared at the figure as he moved towards Koichi and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt, pulling him up, "If you were strong enough to rid me of your body, then you'll be strong enough to defeat me without your spirit." Koichi gulped. He was chained to a wall with no spirit, about to fight Duskmon. This wasn't going to be good. Koji pushed himself up, not caring about his ankle, "Hey! Leave him alone!" Duskmon looked over at him as if he had forgotten that the warrior of light was there. "It's true, master, I did want the warrior of light. I understand that. Yes, master. I will." He seemed to be having a conversation with himself as he pondered a thought. "Very well." He then turned back to Koji, "It is you, warrior of light, who I have the grudge against. If it weren't for you, the digital world would have been in Lucemon's control thousands of years ago. You are the one my heart craves to torture." Koji's heart skipped a beat as Duskmon moved towards him. He had taken Duskmon's attention away from Koichi, but once he was finished with Koji, he would move back to Koichi and his brother couldn't escape due to the fact that he was chained to a wall. Duskmon moved another step closer and raised his sword, "And what better torture than to see your own brother die before you!"`He brought his sword down as hard as he could in Koichi's direction and Koji ran to push him out of the way, but collapsed as soon as he put pressure on his ankle. He closed his eyes as he heard the impact of a sword on… chains? He opened them again to see Koichi free, holding his d-tector. Koichi had dodged at the last moment and Duskmon had broken the chains, freeing him. He held his d-tector up, feeling a new power surging through him, "Execute! Fusion Spirit Evolution!" His body was coated with a dark red-and-gold armour and golden wings sprouted from his back. A silver staff appeared in his hand and a horn appeared on either shoulder armour. He was the fusion spirit of darkness, "Rhihimon!" Koji stared at his brother in amazement. They had thought that only he and Takuya would be able to fusion spirit evolve! Frowning, he grabbed his d-tector and forced himself to stand up, "Execute! Fusion Spirit Evolut-" He was cut off as Duskmon pushed him back onto the bench he had woken up on. He fell backwards onto his back and cuffs appeared on either wrist, stapling him to the stone bed. He watched as the battle between his brother and Duskmon began. _Oh, God. Please let someone come soon!_

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**Please review! I wanted to make it so that everyone could fusion spirit evolve, but i'll just stick with Koji, Taky, Koichi, Amber and Harry cuz Zoe, JP and Tommy don't have one at all.**


	19. Parting Ways: Part 1

**A/N; I know it's short, but I have exams to study for and I wanted to keep my promise by posting regularly. Hopefully, my next one will be longer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own digimon! :(**

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I gasped as my eyes flew open. I was curled up next to Harry who was stretching slightly. I looked around, confused. Hadn't I walked off with Zoe to find Koji and Koichi? I shook my head. It must have been a dream. My stomach grumbled as I sat up and Harry kissed me on the cheek, proving that it had been a dream, seen as I had had at least three meat apples. I glanced down at my wrists. I could have **sworn** that there was something heavy and metal on them, but aside from my wristwatch, they were bare. _I guess that the dream about Koji and Koichi was just part of the dream._ I decided as I stood up, closing my eyes momentarily as the sun warmed my cold body.

Koji struggled against the iron staples that imprisoned him. Rhihimon had Duskmon on the ground, sword hilt leaning against the dark warriors throat. Koji struggled again, with a slight cry of pain as the staples tightened, pinching his skin. Rhihimon looked over at him, concerned, giving Duskmon an easy escape which he immediately took. Jumping up, he threw Rhihimon against the door which crashed to the ground immediately. Rhihimon stood up shakily and raised his sword, ready to attack again. "Koichi! No! Get out of here! It's you he wants!" Koji yelled, praying that he wouldn't remember the only reason Duskmon attacked him was to get at Koji. Rhihimon hesitated as Duskmon took a threatening step towards him and Koji closed his eyes, "GO!" Rhihimon nodded and backed out of the door, "I'll come back for you, Koji! I promise!" Duskmon walked towards Koji as Rhihimon ran down the long tunnel, "You're wrong." He grabbed the warrior of light by his black t-shirt, breaking the staples with the force of his pull alone, "It's **you** that I want."

My eyes flew open and I discovered that I had fallen to my knees and Harry was running over to me, "Amber!" I groaned and stood up again, shakily as he ran up and ducked under my arm so that I was leaning on his shoulder, "What just happened?" I took a deep breath, trying desperately not to close my eyes as Lyra, Shinya and Zoe ran up to me. I blinked unwillingly, due to the fact that my eyes were watering.

Koji let out a yell of pain as he felt Duskmon's sword hit him, but he could tell that the warrior was using less than a tenth of his strength. He fell backwards onto the hard ground as another staple appeared around his wrist, but this time there was a long chain leading up to the wall. "You can stay here for a while. I'll be back soon." Duskmon announced as he turned to leave the cell. Picking up the door, he pushed a large block of cement against it to keep it closed. Koji sighed and leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. Wincing in pain, he grabbed his chest with his free hand. _Please, Koichi. Come back with help soon!_

I cried out as the wave of pain crashed over me, bringing the vision to an end. My eyes began to cloud over when I felt a glass of water being pushed into my hand. Taking a large gulp, my vision cleared and I looked around to see Lyra, Shinya and Zoe staring at me and Harry with both fascination and… fear in their eyes. I looked at Harry who was staring down at his hands in horror. "Harry? How did you get that glass of water?" Zoe asked. Harry looked up at her, "I-I-I don't know!" Lyra looked towards me, the fear in her eyes quickly replacing the fascination, "Why did you scream, Amber? Was it like that nightmare you and Zoe had last night?" I sighed. _I guess all of last night wasn't a dream._ Shaking my head, I tried to steady my breath which was coming in fast, unsteady rasps. I couldn't exactly remember anything except the two strange digimon, _Rhihimon and Duskmon?_, and the unexpected wave of pain, but I did know one thing, "Koji's in trouble."

Lyra raised her eyebrows at me in confusion, "How do you know?" I shook my head, "I'm not sure. I had a vision…" I trailed off as they all stared at me. Blushing, I looked away and turned towards Harry, "How did you manage to hand me that glass of water? There isn't even a **stream** nearby, let alone a shop!" He blushed and turned away, "I don't exactly know. Amber, you looked like you were about to faint and I knew you needed water, and the glass just **appeared **in my hand!" I shook my head, "This is getting weird." Zoe nodded as she slid her blue headband into place, "How about we go and find the others. We stand a larger chance of finding Koji and Koichi in a large group." I nodded as my d-tector began beeping and I took it out. I could hear a faint yelling noise as Katsuharu began yelling into his side of the communicator, "HELP! I'm in the Village of Beginnings with Kijai! Something's wrong with Swanmon!" We heard another yell, this time, muffled, and a loud thud as Katsuharu dropped his d-tector. I closed my eyes, hoping that I would be shown that Koji was okay, but instead, an image of an angry Swanmon appeared.

Katsuharu forced himself up, reaching down for his d-tector as Kijai removed hers. "Down Tornado!" Katsuharu glared at the digimon as his d-tector was swept into a nearby, tree-hollow. Kijai, seeing this, brought her d-tector up to shoulder level, "Exe- ugh!" She fell back and hit a tree and collapsed, out cold. Katsuharu glared at Swanmon as he ran over to Kijai. The young girl was frowning a glare a lot like her elder brothers. Swanmon raised her wings again, a red tint in her eyes glowing brightly, "You have infiltrated this village in the name of Merukimon! For that you will pay! Down Tornado!" Katsuharu let out a cry of pain and shock as the attack hit and he keeled over.

My eyes flew open once again and I found myself gasping for breath. Harry was crouched beside me, another glass of water in his hand. He, and the other three, looked at me questioningly, "What happened?" I took a deep breath. My visions were becoming slower and easier to process, "Katsuharu and Kijai are being attacked by Swanmon in the Village of Beginnings. She said… something about them infiltrating the village." Harry nodded and took the now-empty glass from my hand and it disappeared, "Well, looks like we're going there first!" Just then, everyone's d-tectors began to beep and Teruo and Teppei, Chiaki and Takuya, and JP and Tommy were all clamouring for help. Sighing as everyone looked at me, I closed my eyes as brief visions appeared.

Teruo and Teppei were in a small town with a large beanstalk growing in the centre of with, surrounded by Mamemon who seemed intent on capturing them.

Chiaki and Takuya were in front of a large castle, a lot like the lavender one from Toy Town, but more splendorous, being attacked by a boy with magenta coloured hair.

Finally, JP and Tommy were behind a… large… waterfall I had never seen before and a large group of Gazimon.

I opened my eyes, more slowly and controlled this time and explained each danger to the group. In the end, we decided to split up. Harry was going to help Teruo and Teppei, I was headed for Kijai and Katsuharu, Lyra was going to assist Chiaki and Takuya while Zoe and Shinya, the only duo team, were going to help Tommy and JP. We all waved in farewell to one another as we parted ways, Harry and I travelling together for a while due to the fact that Beanstalk Town was in the same general direction as the Village of Beginnings. As we came to where we had to part, I leaned in and kissed him. We kept it going until we broke apart, gasping for breath. Grinning, he kissed me again, quickly and, waving, walked away. I sighed. _Stay safe, Harry. I care to much about you for anything to happen to you!_

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**Hope you enjoyed! Please review! :)**


	20. Parting Ways: Part 2

**A/N: Hope i'm doing well. Please review and if you have any ideas/ want to do a collab, let me know. I'm open to pretty much everything! :) I have summer exams this week and am going NUTS cause I can't write as much.  
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. :(**

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I glanced around me as I silently crept up around the back of the Village of Beginnings and sighed. _Harry. Where are you?_ I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on Harry, but no luck.  
Kijai looked around as she blinked her eyes open. She was in a small, square room with no windows and supposedly no doors. She could see Katsuharu lying, out cold, on the other side of the room, chained to the wall by one arm. His face was ghostly pale and she could barely see his chest rising and falling as he breathed. Kijai, groaning, lifted a hand to her aching head and, hearing a clinking noise, looked down. She too was chained to the wall by one arm. Looking around again, she spotted their d-tectors in a force field like container with four stones barricading it. Groaning again, she briefly closed her eyes as she heard a grating noise, followed by someone dropping from a small height, followed by a grating again. "WAKE UP!"  
My eyes flew open as I gasped in shock. There was no one near me, so it must have been on Kijai's end. _But that's not who I wanted to see._ Closing my eyes again, I grinned in anticipation of seeing my boyfriend, but no images came. _I guess that's a good thing. I can only see people when they're in trouble. _I decided, opening my eyes again. Glancing around, I began to edge closer to the looming tree filled with the bushes of eggs. Swanmon didn't seem to be anywhere near them. _That's a first._ I thought, suspiciously, as I ducked behind one of the larger bushes. Seeing the opening for the inside room, I raced inside and fell into one of the beds, luckily housing no digimon. Hearing a grating noise, I pulled the sheet up over my head, hoping that I'd look like one of the many Poyomon surrounding me. I poked a small hole through the sheet and saw a large, gaping hole in the middle of the floor opening as Swanmon leapt out of it and walked over to a small lever on the wall. Pushing it down, the hole was covered by a small, circular covering as she turned to the babies, "Listen up! I'm tired of your whinging and whining, so I'm going to the Autumn Leaf fair to see if anyone else wants this place. I'll be back in an hour or so." I could see tears beginning to form in some of their eyes as she turned and walked out of the large tree, but some of them just turned away and began to pout. I threw off the sheet and raced over to the lever. Pushing it up, I heard the grating noise which was almost covered by the sounds of the baby digimon wailing. I jumped down into the hole to see Kijai and Katsuharu chained to a wall and Katsuharu out cold, but I already knew that. Kijai was standing up, a brightness filling her eyes, "Amber!" she cried, running over to try and reach me. She cried out in pain, causing Katsuharu to finally awaken, as the cuff that held the chain to her arm tightened around her wrist. Katsuharu stood up and moved to walk over to her, but the cuff around his wrist tightened too, causing him to stop and grunt in pain. I sighed and looked around. The only weapon that I could see was one of the small, sharp stones holding the force field around their d-tectors in place. Grabbing one of them, I pulled at it until it eventually gave way and came free into my hand, causing the force field to disintegrate. Grabbing Kijai's hand first, I stabbed at the chains until they fell to the ground and the cuff loosened and then proceeded to do the same for Katsuharu, who grinned at me in thanks. They picked up their d-tectors as I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping that now Katsuharu and Chiaki were safe, I'd be able to see if Harry was, but the image that came to my mind was exactly what I saw as my eyes flew open. We were in danger.

Grabbing their hands, I leapt out of the hole with them following as the walls began to slowly close in on the room. Running to the lever, I pushed it shut, just as the walls closed in on one another. With a loud crash, the cover slammed down on top of them and I sighed with relief. "That was too close!" I heard Kijai (who hasn't been getting enough monologue) exclaim. Katsuharu merely nodded in agreement, panting to catch his breath. I grinned as we walked out of the tree and they stretched. It was good not to be cooped up in a small room all day. I narrowed my eyes suddenly as a wave of heat came over me. Someone was watching us. "Get **down**!" I whispered to the two warriors who, looking at me confusedly, nodded and crouched down. My eyes narrowed in on the bush as I heard a twig snap and I grabbed my d-tector, "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Syvotskimon!" I narrowed my wolf-like eyes in on the bush which amplified its size several times and I saw a white-and-blue feather peeking out from behind a leaf. "Lunar Meteor!" The bush disintegrated leaving a dishevelled Swanmon in the middle of the rocks. She glared at me, her eyes still tinted red. "Down Tornado!" I dodged and glared at her as her eyes became their original blue, "My babies!" I looked around, confused. The attack was heading straight for an egg-filled bush. Growling at my stupidity, I lunged in front of the attack, taking the brunt of it as the softer feathers landed lightly on the eggs. Gasping, I fell to my knees and de-digivolved as she, Kijai and Katsuharu ran over to me. "Are you all right, dear?" I looked up at the swan as she asked me this. Her eyes were a deep, calming blue and showed no signs of treachery. I nodded and forced myself up, "I'm fine. What about you guys?" I turned to my two friends, who nodded. Swanmon blushed and bowed apologetically to them, "I'm sorry for whatever I have done. I truly don't remember anything except attacking you just now." Katsuharu opened his mouth to tell her exactly what she had done, but Kijai shook her head, "That's all you did. And anyway, it wasn't your fault." Swanmon nodded, but her eyes were bottomless pools of guilt, "Let me make it up to you! Is anyone hungry?" We all smiled and nodded, following Swanmon inside. I paused for a moment and looked at the sunset. _Please be alright, Harry!_

That night, Swanmon had agreed to supply us with beds until morning. While Katsuharu and Kijai fell asleep almost immediately, I stayed awake, pondering whether Harry was okay or not. Eventually, I sighed and closed my eyes. Hopefully, my dreams would let me know.

Harry sighed as he watched Amber turn the corner which blocked anything past it from view. _Please stay safe, Amber!_ He sighed again and began walking towards Beanstalk Village. After roughly four hours of walking, he sat down on a small, flat rock, hungry and dehydrated. Closing his eyes, he leaned against the larger rock behind him, wishing he had something to eat or at least a glass of water! He could almost **feel** the smooth sides of the glass in his hand and he could smell the delicious, toasted chicken-and-cheese wraps his mom used to make him every day for lunch. _Wait._ Opening his eyes, Harry looked down. In his hands were a large, pint-glass of chilled water and a paper plate carrying the most delicious looking wrap he had ever seen. He took a long gulp of the cool, refreshing water before biting into the large wrap. Savouring the flavour he had not tasted in weeks, he slowly ate his lunch. _How did I do that? They just __**appeared**__ in my hands!_ He stood up as the paper plate and glass disintegrated in front of his eyes. _Is it a special power? _He shook himself and continued walking towards the large, looming shadow of the enormous beanstalk, hands in his pockets. _Well, whatever it is, it's becoming easier to control. I thought it was just a once off thing because Amber was in trouble, but I guess not. _When he finally reached the large beanstalk, it was almost sunset and all signs of life had disappeared. Doors and windows were shut, locked and barricaded, benches and tables were overturned and cracked, several, huge beanstalk leaves were scattered throughout the town and the ground was littered with scorch marks. Harry gazed around in dismay at the ruined land. _But where are Teppei and Teruo? _Getting the feeling that he was being watched, Harry whipped around, his long, brown hair flying behind him as he came face-to-face with… a bench. Harry sighed and anime sweatdropped, "I have **got** to stop being so paranoid!"  
"I agree!" Harry whipped around again. That time, he **knew** he heard someone. "Who's there?!" He yelled. "Show yourself!" A large, pink, knight-like digimon flew out from one of the many stems of the beanstalk, "It is I! Crusadermon!" Harry stared at her, confused, "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" The digimon held a rose up, "You must be one of those tiresome humans, but I don't recall meeting you. And you **certainly** haven't met me if you don't know who I am! It's impossible to see my gloriously beautiful face once and forget it!" Anime sweatdropping, Harry took and aggressive step forwards, "Where are my friends?" Crusadermon shook her (?) head, "I really don't know what you mean, dearie." Growing angry, Harry grabbed his d-tector from his back pocket, "Then let me help jog your memory! Execute!"  
"Spiral Masquerade!" Before Harry's hand was even surrounded by the small ring of data, he felt a swarm of yellow sashes tighten around him, preventing him from spirit evolving. Quickly slipping the d-tector into his back pocket again, Harry glared at Crusadermon as an army of small Mamemon surrounded him, "What the hell? You're best attack is **ribbons**? **Seriously**?" Crusadermon looked at him over the rose, "If you don't like it, deal with it." Feeling himself being pushed towards the beanstalk, Harry glared at her once more as the Mamemon unlocked a small, barred door and shoved him in.

Picking himself up off of the dusty floor, Harry, cursing, looked around him. The yellow sashes were still binding his arms tightly to his sides and it was cutting into his flesh. Propped up against the wall were Teruo and Teppei, both bound by the same yellow sashes, out cold and looked as if they had been given a thorough beating. Teruo's head was covered with dried blood and Teppei's shoulder looked as if it might have been dislocated. Harry gasped and ran over to them, "Teruo! Teppei! Are you alright?! Wake up!" Teruo blinked slowly and looked up at Harry as a smile spread across his face. He carefully nudged Teppei, who groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, with his foot, "Teppei! Harry's here!" Teppei groaned again and blinked his eyes open, "Hi Harry." Harry gaped at the two warriors, "Guys, what happened?" Teruo, struggling to get free of the ribbons binding him, explained, "Well, we were trying to fight Duskmon, but he was to strong and easily defeated us. After all of us had de-digivolved, he opened five portals. He threw Zoe into one, me and Teppei into a second, Takuya and Chiaki into another, Tommy and JP into a fourth, and Kijai and Katsuharu into the final one. When we stood up again, we were here and the Mamemon had us surrounded. We could have easily defeated them, but they were old friends of ours." Harry raised his eyebrows, wishing that he had a knife, "Old friends?" Teppei turned to him, "Not their fault. They're under Crusadermon's control." Harry nodded, "Fair enough." Teruo ceased his wriggling for a minute and forced himself up to peek out of the window, "And then Crusadermon came, knocked us out and we woke up here." Harry pursed his lips and growled through his teeth, "Someone needs to take that bitch down a peg or two." Teppei nodded in agreement and then frowned in confusion as Harry closed his eyes, "What are you doing?" Harry didn't reply. He was trying to imagine a knife. A sharp one._ It worked before. Why not now?_ He felt the cool, metal handle materialise in his open hand as he wrapped his fingers around it and his eyes shot open. He could still feel the knife, but there was no telling whether it was actually there or not due to the fact that he couldn't see it. Teruo gasped in shock, "Harry? Where did you get that knife?" _It's official. I have a power._ He shook his head and began cutting through the thick sash, "I don't really know. It just **happened**. I've been able to do it all day." He finally managed to cut through his binds and moved towards Teruo who backed away. Harry sighed, exasperated, "Look. Do you really think I'm going to hurt you?" Teruo didn't answer and took another step back. Harry growled, "Do you **want** to get rid of those ribbons? Or not?" Teruo stopped and allowed Harry to cut him loose, as did Teppei, although they both had tints of fear in their eyes. Harry sighed and looked around with downcast eyes._ Why are they afraid of me? I'm still the same person. Aren't I? _Avoiding his gaze, Teppei joined Teruo at the barred door, "So, do we break it down?" Teruo nodded, "We do." They both grabbed their d-tectors and a ring of data surrounded their hands, "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  
"Crushalimon!"  
"Zemelenmon!"  
Harry watched without reacting as Zemelenmon knocked the door out of the green wall and walked out into the abandoned courtyard. Zemelenmon anime sweatdropped, "We digivolved for this? They could have at least given us a welcome party!" Harry glared at him as they heard a high-pitched laugh, "Oh, very well then. If you insist!" They both gasped in shock as Crusadermon's attack rained down on them, "Scarlet Tempest!" They gasped in shock and fell backwards as they de-digivolved. "Fist of Athena!" They yelled out in pain as the attack struck, knocking them both out and causing Teruo's head to start bleeding again. Harry gasped in shockhorror as their fractal codes appeared at Crusadermon moved forwards, "STOP!" No one actually knew what would happen if a human's fractal code was scanned and no one wanted to find out. Harry grabbed his d-tector, desperate to protect his friends. "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Hemelsemon!" Crusadermon rolled her eyes as Hemelsemon flew up to meet her, "Do you **really** expect to defeat **me **in that meagre form?" Hemelsemon shook his large, armoured head, "No, but I may as well give it a shot!" She scoffed and turned back towards Teruo and Teppei, reaching out her hand, "I have more important matters to deal with. I haven't got time to waste fighting you!" Hemelsemon, panicking, grabbed her hand, "Well, if I defeat you, there'll be no time wasted!" She scoffed again and turned back to the solar warrior, "Very well! Fist of Athena!" Hemelsemon grimaced in pain, but stayed standing as the attack hit home, "My turn! Burning Flare!" It was his strongest attack, but due to lack of use, it was weak and unstable and Crusadermon easily deflected it, "Is that the best you can do? Well, I thought you might actually be a bit of a challenge, but this just **bores** me. Forgive me is I end this quickly. Spiral Masquerade!" Harry cried out in pain as he de-digivolved and was sent cannoning into the large beanstalk. Below him, Teruo and Teppei had both absorbed their fractal codes and were standing up shakily, but Crusadermon was advancing on them again and they were in no fighting state. Harry growled and squeezed his eyes shut, "I have to become STRONGER!" A bright light suddenly erupted from one of the many leaves that were attached to the large plant and, as Harry stared at it, he realised what it was and pointed his d-tector towards it, "SPIRIT!" The spirit flew into his digivice and he jumped down, landing upright on the ground as Crusadermon stared at him in shock, "But…. how?" Harry nodded to Teruo and Teppei, "Get out of here. I'll handle this." He brought his hand up as multiple rings of data surrounded it, "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" His armour was a lot like Hemelsemon's but a darker shade of gold with tints of black. His face became masked with that of a jaguar's as black wings sprouted on his back. A long, black tail materialised as he grabbed a long, arrow-sword and a bow from the air, placing them both in a scabbard that had attached itself to his left wing. He let out a bloodcurdling screech as he yelled out his name, "SOLUNSATAMON!" He gazed at Crusadermon who began attacking him with ferocity, "Solar Slayer!" The attack sliced through her sashes as she sweatdropped, "But… that's… impossible!" Solunsatamon glared at her, "Molten Perseids!" She backed away, glaring at him as his flaming meteors hit home, "I'll be back, solar warrior! And don't you forget it!" She flew off into the distance as Teruo began cheering, "Great job, Harry! You sure showed her!" Solunsatamon turned to face the two young boys. Now that it's main enemy was gone, it was going to deal with these ones! Teppei backed away a few steps as Solunsatamon growled menacingly and took a step forwards, his eyes bottomless pits of rage, "Harry?" Solunsatamon pounced as Teppei pushed Teruo out of the way, landing where the two had been just moments before. Teruo sweatdropped, "What's wrong with him?" Teppei looked on in horror, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses as Solunsatamon let out another bloodcurdling screech, "He hasn't learnt how to control his beast spirit yet!"

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**Please! For God's sakes! If you're reading this, review! I'm going mad!**


	21. Parting Ways: Part 3

**A/N; I am coming up quite blank on this chapter because I can't think how to end it, so sorry if Lyra's part bores you. I'll try and do better on my next one.**

**Disclaimer; I don't own digimon... :(**

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Teppei and Teruo backed slowly towards the large beanstalk as Solunsatamon turned to face them, his eyes filled with endless rage, "Harry! What are you doing?! We're your friends!" In truth, the Solunsatamon they were evading wasn't Harry. Harry was in a dark room, surrounded by nothing but black fog. He glanced around, "Hello? Is anyone here?" He gasped as a small window appeared and he saw what his friends thought was him attacking, "NO!" Hearing a menacing growl, he turned away from the window. Solunsatamon was metres away from him, his hot breath giving out puffs of steam in the cold area they were in. Harry glared at him, "What are you doing? Those are our friends!" Solunsatamon shook his head, "I am a legendary warrior! I will **never** be friends with a human!" Harry glared at him again as Solunsatamon grabbed Teruo by the throat and shoved him against the beanstalk, "Well, I guess you're going to have to learn! Do you see those two attacking you?" He shook his head, a thoughtful look coming into his eyes. Harry nodded and looked out of the window again as Solunsatamon tossed Teruo out of the way with such a force that he crashed into a tree and made a crack in it, "That's because they don't want to hurt you or me." Solunsatamon shook his head and grabbed Harry, "LIAR! THEY JUST DON'T HAVE ENOUGH **STRENGTH** TO FIGHT!" Harry stood calmly looking at the beast digimon as he twisted his arm behind his back, "You don't believe that. I know you because I **am** you. I know **exactly** what you're thinking!" Solunsatamon gasped and released the boy, taking a few steps back, "But… how?" Harry nodded and took a step towards him, "Please stop hurting my friends! Right now, you're only doing it so as not to hurt your pride!" Solunsatamon bowed his head, "Very well, solar warrior. I give you control of this body. I look forward to working with you." With that, he disappeared and Harry was transported to Solunsatamon's body just in time to stop him shredding Teppei and Teruo. With a less-beast-like cry, he de-digivolved and fell to his knees, panting to catch his breath. From when Solunsatamon had grabbed him, his arm was bleeding and his shirt was slightly torn, but it was worth it. He forced himself into a sitting position as he looked up at his friends, "Sorry." He then collapsed on the ground, out cold.

Lyra sighed as she walked into a large meadow filled with flowers. She loved anything to do with nature, but now wasn't the time to be admiring flowers. She could do that later, but now, she had to help Takuya and Chiaki. She grinned as she came up to the large castle a few minutes later. It seemed like less than an hour ago she had been at the campsite with people telling her it might take an entire day to reach the castle, and yet she had reached it in less than two hours! Takuya and Chiaki were nowhere to be seen, but the magenta-haired boy was standing in a small courtyard, an evil grin on his face. Quickly ducking behind a large tree, Lyra frowned. The boy didn't look like he was young warrior. She sighed with relief as she leaned up against the rough bark of the tree. _But how __**didn't **__he see me? I just stood there! _She looked out again as a boy with red hair and glasses wearing a white lab coat, black trousers and shoes walked up to him, "Davis. The chamber is ready for your use." The magenta haired boy grinned, "Brilliant, Izzy. We can move those two in there later." Lyra gasped as the two boys, hearing her, turned towards the tree. Izzy frowned, "Did you hear that?" Davis nodded and began walking slowly towards the tree, "Sounded like… a little spy." Closing her eyes, Lyra ducked back behind the tree. Looking up, she began to climb up into the green leaves. Hopefully, her green hair would blend in with the leaves and they wouldn't notice her. Thankfully, seeing no one, they continued talking directly underneath the tree, although Lyra thought she had seen Davis look up at her and nod to Izzy, but right then she couldn't do much about it without giving away her position. She sighed and began to listen to the conversation, which was the only thing she could actually do.  
"So, Izzy. What did you do to the chamber?"  
"I inserted a hidden door at the back, which you open using a lever on the other side. You can use it to get them in there. On the chamber-side, it looks like another bit of the wall."  
"Anything else?"  
"Yes. One more. When you activate it, using the words, 'you just chill out here for a while', a force field around the chamber will be activated." Davis looked at him, confused, "What will happen?" Izzy grinned, "A lot like IceDevimon's attack, it will freeze them, but instead of vines, it will be their own terrors that freeze them!" Lyra stiffened as the two laughed. _That's awful! They won't stand a chance unless they're not scared of __**anything**__! _Hearing a growling noise, Lyra shifted uncomfortably. _Shit! Why didn't I eat when I had the chance?_ Izzy looked up at her as her brown eyes met his black ones and grinned, "And you can join them, **spy**. Kabuterimon!" Lyra looked up at the grey figure and gasped in horror as he raised his hand and knocked her out of the branch, pummelling her into the ground. Standing up, she groaned. Izzy and Davis had moved to block her path and Kabuterimon was standing by in case she tried to make a break for it. They stood perfectly still, sizing each other up. Lyra narrowed her eyes.

Izzy looked like a complete computer geek. Loved anything to do with electronics, except virus' (or maybe he likes them cuz he gets to fix them and it challenges him.), and not the **most** athletic person around, but he certainly looked like he could run fast enough if given the right motivation.

Davis was a little harder to figure out. He looked like an all-jock, and his body was as thin as a stick. His eyes burnt with a courage that no villain she had ever faced had and they also had tints of hope in them. Lyra was taken aback. Every other one of the controlled children she had fought had had dull eyes, but Davis' were clear as daylight.

_Maybe he's not actually good. Maybe he's evil by choice!_ She thought as she took one step backwards, leaning forward and preparing to run. Izzy made to grab her shoulder, "Don't you dare!" But Lyra was already gone. She was pounding across the grass towards the castle, the blood pounding in her ears as her breath adjusted to let in more oxygen. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Izzy, Davis and Kabuterimon quickly gaining on her. Growling, she pushed herself to go faster, speeding towards the castle as everything around her moved in slow motion. When she looked back again, she had put several hundred metres between her and the two boys in a matter of two and a half minutes! Lyra gasped and skidded to a halt in front of the large gate. _How… did I do that?_ Shaking her head, she pushed the gate open and walked into the large courtyard, pushing the gate closed and locking it with the key which was left in the lock. She sighed and looked around the grey courtyard. There was a round slab of concrete in the middle surrounded by green grass. A large, sun dial rested in the middle of the concrete slab and a large, wooden, trap door was right next to it. Looking behind her, Lyra grimaced. The threesome were less than twenty feet away from the gate. Shrugging, she bolted for the trap door. _Anything is better than facing those three alone! Even a dark, spider-filled tunnel. _Lyra shuddered and pulled the door open, but instead of a tunnel, she dropped down into a pitch black room.

Takuya groaned and half-opened his eyes as a hand roughly shook him awake, "What?" He and Chiaki had been shoved through a portal into Angewomon's old castle where they had battled, and lost, against Davis and Izzy. They had shoved him and Chiaki, half-unconscious, into a pitch-black room, telling them not to get too comfortable, for they would be back soon. That was almost an entire day ago, and still neither of Ken's friends had returned. He groaned again and blinked as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness. Chiaki was groggily forcing herself into a sitting position opposite him and Lyra was urgently shaking him awake, a fearful look in her eyes. He shifted his position so that he was leaning up against the wall rather than lying on the cold, hard floor before looking up at Lyra again, "What's going on?" Lyra shook her head, "I'm not exactly sure, but I **do** know that if we don't get out of here soon, you two are going to be popsicles." Takuya nodded and shakily stood up before helping Chiaki who was still weak. Lyra stood up from her crouched position and looked around the room. It seemed that the only way out was the tunnel she had just come through, but Davis and Izzy were probably already through the gate. Lyra froze as a clanking sound came towards them from behind the wall that Chiaki and Takuya were leaning against. Thinking quickly, she shoved them out of the way as the wall spun around, taking her with it. She looked around her new surroundings as she stood up and was immediately confronted by a grim-reaper-like digimon, "Come with me, or suffer the consequences." Lyra grabbed her d-tector from her pocket, "I don't think so, buddy. Execute! Spirit-" She gasped as it's mace wrapped it's way around her neck, causing her to fall to her knees, choking, dropping her d-tector in the process. He picked it up and stared at it thoughtfully for a minute as she desperately tried to loosen the chains, "I thought master Izzy had confirmed the removal of these devices. Oh, well. It won't be any use to the boy in there, seeing as only you can digivolve into…"He glanced at her spirit for a moment, "The warrior of friendship. Hah! Don't make me laugh! That spirit was always just a joke." I sighed in relief as he finally loosened his mace and I stood up, massaging my neck as he threw my d-tector at the wall which, once again, spun around taking my d-tector with it. I gasped and moved for the wall as he swung his mace again, this time, catching me around my waist, "Not this time. You're coming with me to the chamber."

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**Hope you enjoyed despite the severely uneventful part on Lyra's behalf. Please review!**


	22. Parting Ways: Part 4 & The Utmost Shock

**Amber: To be frank, I think Lyra should have been able to take on Phantomon!  
Harry: *facepalm* Amber! She was being ****strangled****!  
Amber: Weren't ****you**** the one who nearly ****killed**** Teruo and Teppei?  
Harry: WILL YOU STOP BRINGING THAT UP?!  
Me: Will someone PLEASE just say the disclaimer so we can get on with the story?  
Harry: Fine! Thanks to DigiFan Capp for commenting on the last chapter and kojiluvr doesn't own digimon. She only owns Kijai, the new warriors, Lyra, Amber, Kijai and myself... wait! You don't own me!  
Me: *groan and facepalm* I'm outa here!**

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Lyra glared at the digimon as he slammed the door of the chamber shut behind him. Sighing she looked around her. The chamber wasn't the dark, damp room she had assumed it would be. It was large, bright and filled with furniture like beds, tables, chairs, and a wardrobe. The table was overflowing with delicious looking foods and there was even a bathroom with a shower! Lyra grinned as she ran to the bathroom, taking off her jacket. This was heaven! Turning the water up as high as she could without scalding herself, she jumped in, enjoying the pleasant feel of the water cascading down her back. She began singing, as she always did, as she grabbed the shampoo beside her.

_Let's get down to business  
To defeat the Huns  
Did they send me daughters  
When I asked for sons?_

Five minutes later, she had a bathrobe wrapped around her and was drying her hair, still humming 'I'll Make a Man Out of You'. Suddenly, the door burst open and Takuya and Chiaki were thrown in, possibly by the digimon she now knew as Phantomon, and Lyra screamed, running into the walk-in-wardrobe and grabbing a random outfit. A green-and-purple crochet t-shirt with a plain purple top underneath, green shorts, a purple belt and a pair of green sandals. Quickly dressing and fastening a purple charm bracelet around her wrist, Lyra ran back out to meet her friends who were looking around in amazement, "Sorry about that. You guys okay?" Takuya massaged his neck, "You mean aside from nearly being **strangled **by that Phantomon? Yeah, we're fine!" Lyra laughed as he, spotting a soccer ball, ran over to it and began kicking it up and down. Chiaki looked at her new outfit, "Hey! That looks so cute on you! Where'd you get it?" Lyra grinned, grabbed Chiaki's hand and dragged her into the wardrobe, "Come on! Let's find something for you!" Ten minutes later, Takuya stared in awe at Chiaki as she walked out of the closet. Her hair, which she had been wearing in pigtails, was lose, curled and reached her lower back. She was wearing a bubbly, baby blue party dress, a navy long-sleeved, tank cardigan, also crochet, and a pair of navy, one inch high heels. Blinking rapidly, he blushed and looked away as the soccer ball bounced on the ground, "You… you look great, Chiaki!" She grinned as the door opened and Davis walked in. Lyra was immediately put on her guard and instinctively reached for her pocket where she always kept her d-tector before remembering that she didn't have it. Takuya, seeing her expression, reached into the back pocket of his trousers, withdrew the green-and-purple d-tector and tossed it across the room to her. Expertly catching it, her hand was surrounded by the usual data as she jumped up, "Execute!" Davis grabbed a flattened-sphere-like object from his jacket and whirled it at the ground so Lyra landed on it. It immediately grew larger and, when she landed, froze her feet to the ground so that she was paralysed from the waist down. She gasped as she dropped her d-tector, unable to reach down for it due to the immobility of her legs. She glared at Davis as Takuya quickly snatched her d-tector out of Davis' reach and replaced it in his pocket, "What do you want?" Davis winced at her harsh tone and his eyes widened, as if he was hurt, "Geez! All I wanted to do was make sure you had everything you needed!" I clenched my hand into a fist, "We're **fine**." I knew he was lying through his teeth. What he wanted was our spirits! Davis shrugged, "I just wanted to let you know that, seeing as we have the two spirits that actually matter, you can leave tomorrow, if you want. You just chill out here for a while." Lyra frowned as he walked out of the room and the circle beneath her disappeared and she regained mobility. _Why do those words sound so familiar?_ She tried to remember, but the incident with Phantomon was blocking her memory. She could barely even remember dropping down into the room Chiaki and Takuya were in! She growled and walked over to the single and bunk bed that was provided in the room, "I call top bunk!" Takuya stared at me, "We're not going to do anything?" Lyra shook her head and climbed the small ladder, "Not much we **can** do. They're letting us out of here in the morning, and then we can find your spirits, but until then, we're stuck here!" Takuya glared at her and walked over to the door, "Well, I didn't hear him lock the door! Maybe we can get a head start and find the spirits tonight!" Chiaki crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Takuya glanced up at her in confusion as his fingers closed around the door knob, "Why?" His question was answered a moment later as he jumped back, holding his hand, "It's electrocuted!" Lyra rolled her eyes as she pulled back the sheets of the bed, "Well, duh! Did you **really **think it would be **that** easy?" Takuya blushed and walked over to the remaining bed, pulling back the sheets as Chiaki sat down on her bed underneath Lyra's, "I guess you're right. Well, sleep well!" Lyra grinned as the lights turned off and silence reined, meaning other than Takuya's loud snoring. _We'll be outa here by morning!_ She suppressed a slight shudder as she snuggled into the blankets. _We'll save you, Koichi. I promise._

Lyra opened her eyes. She was in a small, dark room and she could hear the moving of many creatures. Standing up, she shrieked. The room was not naturally dark for the walls and ceiling were covered with spiders! Shrieking again, she ran for the door, not caring if it **was **electrified. She reached out her hand for the knob, which thankfully wasn't electrified, but got an even more horrible shock. Covering the door knob was a giant tarantula, the biggest one she had ever seen! Lyra screamed harder and louder than she ever did before and fell backwards as it slowly climbed down the door, across the floor and onto her shoe. Lyra squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the crawling sensation on her leg, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she found that all of the spiders were gone. Standing up, she looked around again. On the now-brighter walls were glowing with '友' symbols, the symbol of friendship. Lyra smiled as Flasinamon came into view. There was no way that **this **was a nightmare. "Lyra, I'm afraid I have terrible news." Flasinamon said, gazing straight into Lyra's eyes. Lyra's smile quickly disappeared as she continued, "The spirit of friendship was never meant to be a warrior. I followed my brother, the spirit of love, into the battle without permission. When I saw Lucemon kill him, I wanted to avenge my brother, but in the process, I was killed and the digimon who were watching assumed I was meant to be there." Lyra gasped, her eyes the picture of horror, "Then… what are you saying." Flasinamon looked away sadly, "You are not a legendary warrior." She brought out Lyra's d-tector and placed it on the ground under her raised foot. Lyra, tears pouring down her face, ran forwards to try and stop her, "NNNOOOOO!" Time moved in slow motion as Flasinamon brought her boot down on the device, smashing the screen which flashed for a second before dimming completely. Lyra fell to her knees as Flasinamon faded into darkness, "I'm sorry Lyra. This is just the way it has to be." Lyra felt tears slide down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut, "NNNOOOOO!"  
"Why are you screaming, Lyra?" Lyra opened her eyes to see Koichi standing in front of her, holding out his hand to help her up. Lyra, still sobbing, took his hand and latched onto him. He stroked her back gently, "It's okay. It's okay." Suddenly, she felt him stiffen, "Look out!" She felt him shove her out of the way and she landed on the ground as something flew through the air. She looked up to see Koichi, hand over his heart, turning pale and breathing heavily. She stood up and ran over to him as he collapsed, "No! No! NO!" She moved his hand to see that a dart, like the ones that the DemiDevimon that had captured them used, had pierced his chest and blood was quickly seeping out, staining his green shirt a violent red. She looked into his eyes as she pulled the dart out and used her t-shirt to try and slow the blood. They were half closed and shining with emotion as he took his final breath, "Good…bye Ly…ra." The blood stopped and Koichi's eyes turned dull. His hand, which Lyra was clasping, became cold. Deathly cold. He turned pale as Lyra stared at him in horror, "Koichi! Koichi, no! You can't go! I need you!" Tears fell onto the pinprick-like hole in his chest as Lyra fell onto him, praying that, like in movies, he would awaken and kiss her, but nothing happened. Koichi was dead.

Chiaki groaned and closed her eyes for the fifth time that night. No matter what she did, she couldn't sleep. Sighing, she climbed out of her bed and walked over to the large bookshelf. Choosing a book at random, she glanced at the title, "Narnia. Never knew they had books from our world here!" Shrugging, she walked back over to her bed, glancing at Takuya and Lyra as she went. Frowning, she took a step back and looked at Takuya again before gasping in horror. The warrior of fire was freezing! Literally! A blockade of ice was slowly working its way up the boy's body as he frowned, whimpered and growled. Chiaki shook her head, "It has to be something Davis did or said…"  
*Flashback*  
_"You just __**chill **__out here for a while!"  
_*Flashback end*  
Chiaki groaned and ran over to him, roughly shaking his shoulder, "Takuya! Taky! Wake up!" He groaned and slightly batted her away, but other than that, she got no response. Worriedly looking around, she saw a box of matches on the mantle over the empty fireplace. Grabbing it and striking a flame, she held it over the ice, which was now working its way up to Takuya's knees. It slowly, slowly began to melt, but as she took the match away, it sprang up to its original position again. She growled as the TV, that was attached to the wall, turned on and an image of Izzy appeared, "Hello, Chiaki. Not sleeping well?" Chiaki ran up to the TV, "You tell me how to save my friends, and you tell me now!" Izzy laughed and shook his head, "I'll tell you on one condition. You defeat me in a fight. I'll see you in the courtyard in five minutes." Chiaki growled as the TV became blank again. Glancing back at Takuya, she growled as she walked to the door, "Wait. What about Lyra?" Running over to the bed, she climbed onto the first rung of the ladder and covered her mouth with her hand in horror. Ice had already reached her friends stomach and was rapidly creeping up to her heart. Growling again, she ran to the door and, opening it after discovering it was no longer electrified, she ran into the tunnel. Across from the chamber was a small wooden door that she was certain hadn't been there before, but, shrugging, she opened it and stepped out into the wide courtyard. A few minutes later, Izzy appeared, her d-tector in his hand, "Here." He threw her the d-tector as Kabuterimon came up behind him, "Now, let's see what the legendary warrior can do." She caught the d-tector as a ring of data surrounded her hand, "Execute! Spirit Evolution! Shadeowomon!" Izzy grinned as she and Kabuterimon flew up to meet in mid-air, "Perfect."

Five minutes later, Chiaki fell to the ground in her human form, crying out in pain. Izzy walked forwards and pulled her up, "It's a pity. I thought someone battling for their friends lives would put up more of a fight!" Chiaki growled and wriggled out of his grip as a blinding light surrounded her, "I am putting up more of a fight, and do you know why? Because I will do everything in my power to protect my friends while there is still hope!" Izzy shielded his eyes from her glow as a small wooden totem appeared in front of her. She pointed her d-tector towards it, a resilient look forming in her eyes as a group of rings of data surrounded the whole of her hand, "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" Her arms and legs lengthened and grew dark as a pair of white gloves and boots appeared. Her white hair coiled its way into a long cloak which reached her lower back. Black, demon wings grew from her shoulder blades as black armour covered her chest. A white, pair-of-shorts-like armour covered her legs as she grabbed a long, black arrow from the air and a bow grew from her glove. A black mask covered the upper half of her face and on the lower half, her cheeks and lips were a rosy pink, and her slightly-pointed teeth were a brilliant white. She shot an arrow out of her bow, completing the transformation as she called out her name, "LadyAngemon!" Izzy stared at her in wonder as she flew through the air at Kabuterimon, "Evil Point!" She grabbed an arrow and slotted it into her bow, aiming at Kabuterimon so that she hit him precisely in the chest. He growled as he was pummelled into the ground next to Izzy, who's fractal code was already beginning to appear. LadyAngemon strode forward, one hand raised, "Blinding Gate!" A round gate appeared in the sky and, when opened, shone a beam of pure white light onto Kabuterimon, causing his fractal code to appear. The gate closed and disappeared as LadyAngemon walked forwards, "LadyAngemon Slide Evolution! Shadeowomon! Now, release my friends, soul of evil! Fractal Code, Digitise!" Shadeowomon watched as Kabuterimon's darkened figure became a small, pink, marshmallow-like digimon. Chiaki de-digivolved and walked over to Izzy who was frozen in place, his fractal code just showing, "And to release you! Fractal Code, Digitise!" He gasped slightly as a flash of light surrounded him and Chiaki blinked. When she opened her eyes again, Izzy was on his knees in a green jacket, a white shirt, grey pants and red shoes. Chiaki ran over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he stood up, groaning, "Izzy! You okay?" Izzy nodded and looked around, "Why do I have the feeling I did something I'm going to regret?" Chiaki frowned and dragged him over to the wooden door, "Because you did. Come on! My friends are in danger!"

Chiaki and Izzy ran into the room and over to the two beds. Takuya was now frozen up to his waist and Lyra's face was almost covered and was flashing faintly. Izzy turned to Chiaki, "Have you tried warming them up?" Chiaki nodded, "I held matches over them!" Izzy shook his head, "It's going to take more than that. We need Agunimon!" Suddenly, a flaming whirlwind of fire surrounded Takuya and the ice melted, leaving him free with a ghost figure of Agunimon holding a small fireball in his hand. Takuya sat up rubbing his head, shivering and groaning. Agunimon walked over to Lyra and held it over her now-completely frozen body as Chiaki ran over and stood on the first rung of the ladder, a worried look on her face. The fireball didn't seem to be doing anything and Agunimon seemed to be panicking. Lyra was flashing brighter and brighter every minute and two minutes later, he lowered his hand and bowed his head in respectful mourning as Lyra grew brighter, forcing Izzy, Lyra and Takuya to shield their eyes. When they looked again, a green-and-purple digi-egg with a '友' was in Lyra's place along with her d-tector and her purple charm bracelet. Chiaki felt numb with shock. She couldn't believe it until Agunimon disappeared and Takuya whispered the fact, "She's gone. Lyra's gone!"

* * *

**Me: Sorry to any Lyra fans, but I thought this would be a good twist.  
Koichi: *growl* You're really gonna be sorry when I find you!  
Me: Takuya? A little help here!  
Takuya: Actually, he's right! Let's get her!  
Me: *scream*  
Chiaki: Guys, no. It's my fault. I should've been quicker getting back.  
Me: *animesweatdrop* But... I'm the one who controlled how fast you moved!  
Chiaki: *frowns thoughtfully* You're right! Get her!  
Me: OUTA HERE!**


	23. It Begins

**Koichi: Previously, Lyra was converted back into a digi egg when her fears controlled her dreams.  
Me: *pause* You could make it a bit more dramatic.  
Koichi: Nah. I'm not doing what you say anymore.  
Me: Why not?  
Koichi: You turned Lyra into a fucking digi egg!  
Me: Koichi! She can't die! She'll be back!  
Koichi: Yeah, but it won't be the same. Anyway, kojiluvr doesn't own digimon. Have a good day.  
Me: Cut the fucking over-politeness! You're beginning to sound like you did as Duskmon!  
Koichi: *growl and glare* Oh, you're gonna get it for that!  
Me: Now, more than ever. *grins, then runs off***

* * *

Shinya groaned in annoyance as he, Zoe, JP and Tommy walked out of the cave, JP and Tommy grinning sheepishly. Apparently, all the Gazimon had wanted was tourists in their nearby village and had been trying to 'kidnap' a terrified JP and Tommy and treat them to a free, one-week getaway. For obvious reasons, they had been misunderstood, but when Shinya and Zoe had arrived on the scene, they had to explain everything to avoid being purified. Shinya groaned again at the thought of re-walking the long, unnecessary journey that they had to take to get there in the first place. Suddenly, the dessert-like landscape before them disappeared and they were back at their campsite. Shinya blinked and, feeling dizzy all of a sudden, fell to his knees. Tommy, half-scared of his friend, crouched down a few inches away from the boy, a concerned look in his eyes, "Sh-Shinya? Are you okay?" Shinya groaned, nodded and slowly stood up, "H-h-how d-did I do t-that?" Zoe bit her lip and looked around, leaving the younger boys question unanswered. The truth was, she had actually no idea how they had gotten back in less than ten seconds when the journey was at **least **ten **hours **long. She crouched down and let and exhausted Shinya climb onto her back, "Come on. You need to lie down." A few minutes later, Shinya was lying on a bed of leaves with a damp cloth over his forehead, everyone unsure whether he was awake or asleep. They walked just out of earshot of him and Tommy, who was sitting next to him in case something happened, to discuss his supposed 'teleporting'. "I don't understand! First Amber, then Harry and now Shinya!" Zoe cried, after explaining Amber and Harry's strange powers from the day before. JP nodded, his eyes closed, "Yeah. It's kinda strange." Zoe sighed and turned to look at Shinya, who was whimpering slightly, "He's such a little kid. He doesn't even know what he did!" JP nodded again, clasping his hands behind his head and opening one eye, "Maybe it would be a good idea not to talk to him about it. It might scare him and Tommy." Zoe didn't reply, but JP saw her incline her head slightly in agreement as Shinya opened his eyes a crack. He sighed and stared at the back of her head. If he was honest with himself, he knew he still loved her, but he knew she was with Koji. _Take care of her, Koji. She needs you more than ever now._

I groaned as I blinked my eyes open and found myself lying next to Kijai and Katsuharu once again. I sat up and looked around the room Swanmon had provided us with for the night. I shook my head, trying to remember he four dreams I had dreamt. _If they were true then… everyone is safe except for… Lyra! _I blinked as Kijai and Katsuharu began to awaken, glancing around in confusion as if they had forgotten where they were. I stood up and walked out of the room to discuss the best possible route with Swanmon, who seemed to know any area within a twelve hours walk of the large tree. Twenty minutes later, we were walking back towards the campsite on a trail that would lead us there within three hours, or so Swanmon had promised. Kijai walked forwards nervously, trying to catch up to me as I walked briskly and steadily, leading the way, "Um… Amber?" I slightly inclined my head in her direction, not breaking my pace, "What?" I inwardly winced as I saw Kijai slow down a step or two for a moment. I hadn't meant for my voice to be that harsh, but I was worried **sick **about Harry and Lyra. Kijai shrugged my tone off and caught up to me again, "Um, I was just wondering… um…"  
"Just spit it out!" Again with the harsh tone. Kijai, this time, just let my comment slide like water from a ducks back, "How did you know we were in danger back there?" I shoved my hands into my pockets and shrugged, my eyes closed, "I don't really know. It's just something I've been able to do since yesterday." Kijai looked like she wanted to ask more, but I glared at her, mentally telling her that the conversation was over. She backed away towards Katsuharu, whispering furiously to him, every now and then glancing in my direction. I growled. _Could you __**make **__it any more obvious that you're talking about me?! _Silently, I trudged on, hoping they wouldn't confront me about my new-found power again.

I grinned and ran over to Harry as we finally reached the campsite, throwing my arms around his neck, relieved to see that he was safe. He chuckled quietly and kissed me gently, "It's good to see you again, Amber." I blushed and pulled away, embarrassed by the public show of affection. Glancing around, I realised that we were one of the last groups to arrive. Shinya was lying on a bed of leaves, his eyes closed, with Tommy, Zoe and JP by his side, Teruo and Teppei were standing at the edge of the group, occasionally casting Harry anxious glances while Kijai was running around, trying to get information on her brothers whereabouts and Katsuharu was casually walking over to Teruo and Teppei. The only group missing was… Lyra's. My heart pounded faster than ever before as I came to that conclusion. _That doesn't mean that something bad happened. _My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as Chiaki, Takuya and a boy with red hair walked into the clearing holding a large, green-and-purple digi egg. Everyone glanced over at them and immediately flocked around Chiaki, who was holding the egg, and began bombarding the depressed-looking girl with questions concerning the egg and Lyra.  
"Where did you get the egg?"  
"Where's Lyra?"  
"Is she okay?"  
"What happened?"  
Seeing Chiaki about to cry, a placed two fingers in my mouth and blew as hard as I possibly could, releasing a shrill whistle that pierced through the air, "Will you guys **shut the fuck up**?!" They all stared at me in shock, their eyes wide, but acknowledged my frustration and grew quiet as I walked up to Chiaki, who was now sobbing quietly, "Chiaki? What happened, and where's Lyra?" Chiaki quietly held out the egg and for the first time, I noticed a small '友' in the middle. My heart skipped a beat as I took the egg and stared at the symbol of friendship and Chiaki completely broke down, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. Teruo, alarmed, ran over and placed his arm around her shoulders in a small hug, "Chiaki! Are you okay?" Chiaki shook her head and sat down on the ground, placing her head in her hands, her hair hiding the facial features that her hands didn't, "I-it was t-the ro-room. She h-had a n-nig-nightmare and it fr-froze her!" I raised my eyebrows, confused. I knew that this was a very serious matter, but his was making absolutely no sense. I glanced at the red-haired boy, who nodded, "Sorry, I'll explain. My name's Izzy Izumi. I was one of the DigiDestined being controlled by Merukimon." I nodded, signalling for the now-blushing boy to continue. "Davis, Merukimon's main follower, told me to… how should I put this… edit a large, underground room to use to his advantage. I created a device that sneaks into someone's dream and changes them, showing them all of their worst fears and, like IceDevimon's attack, the terrors freeze them solid, rendering the victims to what you see before you." He explained, shamefully, as he gestured a hand to the digi egg I was holding. I gasped in horror and clasped the egg close to my chest, "You mean… this is actually… Lyra?" He nodded and bowed his head as everyone crowded around the egg, tears slowly streaming down their faces. I looked down at my friend's egg and hugged it even tighter. _Don't worry, Lyra. I won't let anything happen to you. _I blinked the tears away and a familiar, dark room came to my view.

Koji looked up defiantly as, for the first time in two days, Duskmon entered the room, "What do you want?" Duskmon shrugged nonchalantly as Koji raised one eyebrow, slightly confused, "Oh, you know. Control, destruction, **revenge**. The usual." Koji growled as Duskmon advanced on him, his sword held high above his head, "Believe me, warrior of light. When you are gone, I will have had all the revenge I need." Koji grimaced and balled his hands into fists as Duskmon brought the sword down as hard as he could on his shoulder. No matter what happened, he would **never** give Duskmon the benefit of seeing him shed a single tear. He cried out in pain as the sword continued to hit him, time after time, again and again, until, eventually, Duskmon lowered his sword and walked slowly out of the room, leaving Koji semi-unconscious in a scratched, bruised, bloody, dishevelled heap on the floor, "That's enough for today. I will return when your wounds have healed." Koji pushed himself shakily to his knees, "No! Answer me this; why let me heal? Why not just finish me off now?" Duskmon paused and looked back at him, a dangerous look in his dark, deviant eyes, "I want to draw out your suffering so you may see the demise of your dear brother when he returns. Then, and only then, will I destroy you." Koji shuddered and the ground rushed up to meet him as Duskmon left the room, leaving him alone, once again, in the dark, damp cell.

My eyes flew open as I realised that I had, once again, fallen to my knees. Harry had taken he egg from me and was attempting to help me up as I groaned and blinked multiple times. I stood up, leaning on Harry for support, and looked around at the whole group, who were staring at me worriedly, "Koji's in danger. And I mean **serious **danger. We need to find him and Koichi, stat!" Suddenly, I looked over at the bush opposite Shinya, which was trembling slightly. Wordlessly, I motioned for everyone else to stay where they were as I silently crept towards the bush and pulled out the dark figure concealed within. He had familiar raven-coloured hair, but because of his dishevelled condition, I couldn't identify him until Tommy gasped and ran forwards, "Koichi!"

* * *

**Me: Sorry for the boring first paragraph, but I was having writers block and didn't want ****every**** group to be kidnapped.  
Koji: No worries. But next time, do you think you could make my story less... painful? *grimaces and rubs sore arm*  
Me: Sorry about that. Anyway, keep reading!  
Koichi: Don't tell them what to do!  
Me: How long are you gonna keep this up?!  
Koichi: Until you bring Lyra back.  
Me: *scream in frustration***


	24. Rescue

**Shinya: **Last time, I transported JP, Tommy, Zoe and myself back to the camp, we found out Lyra was a digi-egg and Koichi came back!  
**Amber: **And from now on, it's a normal POV and not mine anymore  
**Me: **Forgetting something?  
**Amber: **Um... nope!  
**Me: ***groan* DISCLAIMER!  
**Amber:** *sigh* Fine. kojiluvr doesn't own digimon  
**Me: **Good

* * *

Koichi groaned, coughed and blinked his eyes open, forcing himself up. He looked around, eyebrows buried into a frown, "Where am I?" Amber smiled and walked over to him, "You're back in the clearing. You were out of it for quite a while. We were all getting worried." Koichi groaned again and rubbed his head, sitting up and looking around, "You… managed to help the others?"  
"**And **we found Shinya's spirit and Harry and Chiaki both found their beast spirits." Koichi blinked, surprised, and looked around again, worry suddenly clouding his face, "Where's Lyra?" Amber bit her lip. She knew Koichi had a soft spot for the green-haired girl. How was she supposed to explain that she… she really didn't want to even **think** this… died? "Um… you see… the thing is," she stuttered staring at her feet as Koichi raised one eyebrow, "Go on." Glancing around, she quickly located Chiaki who had her arm draped around Lyra's egg, carefully removed her friend's arm, picked the egg up and handed it to Koichi. Koichi stared at it, his eyes shining with emotion; horror, sadness, remorse. "You mean… she… this is her?" he gasped. Amber nodded sadly as Tommy blinked his eyes open, rubbed them gently and, seeing Koichi awake, grinned and ran over to him. "Koichi! You're awake!" he yelled, immediately waking everyone within the clearing. Chiaki, after glancing around, panicked, relaxed as she saw Koichi carefully clasping Lyra's egg. Koichi continued to stare at the egg, not seeming to register the fact that everyone was staring at him. Finally, seeing that this was getting them nowhere, Amber coughed slightly, bringing the ravenette out of his trance, "Sorry to put a halt on your mourning, Koichi, but Koji's in danger, and you're the only one who knows where he is." Nodding, Koichi stood up shakily, the egg still in his grasp, "He's in a large cave about a day's walk north of here. But something's different about Duskmon. He's stronger than he was even when I was controlled by him." Kijai raised his eyebrows, concerned for her brother, "So that means… Koji could…" She nodded towards Lyra's egg, unable to continue her sentence. Koichi nodded as Harry walked up to Amber and put an arm around her shoulder. Koichi nodded, his eyes glazing over. Amber shuddered inwardly. She had seen her grandmother go through that state of mind when her grandfather had died, and she didn't want to see it again. Koichi wasn't **as** bad as her. Yet. But if his brother, his **twin** brother at that, died, there was no way he'd be able to take the loss. Takuya walked towards his friend and placed a knowing hand on his shoulder as Zoe gasped in horror, "He'll be fine, Shadows. He's too stubborn to die at Duskmon's hands." This brought a small grin to Koichi's face, knowing Takuya was right. If his brother had anything to say about it, he'd rather be killed by Takuya than Duskmon! "So, what're we waiting for?" JP cried, "Let's go save Koji!" Amber nodded, but Kijai tapped her on the shoulder, "Um… Amber? I want to say… sorry for before." Amber grinned, "It's fine, Kijai! But what is it you wanted?" Kijai stared down at her feet, her midnight blue eyes clouded with worry, "Could you… I mean… would you check if Koji's alright now?" Amber nodded, called everyone to a halt for a minute, and closed her eyes.

Koji looked up as Duskmon entered the room again, a handful of oranges in his hands. "Eat these," he growled, throwing them at Koji's feet. "They'll help your wounds heal faster. Humans heal at an antagonisingly slow rate, and I want to continue my revenge." Koji stared obstinately at Duskmon, not moving or even blinking. Duskmon growled, picked up one orange and shoved it into Koji's hand, "Eat it or I swear I will shove it down your throat myself. And trust me, I've done it before." Shuddering, Koji took a small bite of the orange, immediately feeling his wounds begin to heal. He lifted his t-shirt a little to look at the most severe of his wounds, a large gash on his hip, to find that it had been reduced to a small scab. Duskmon, smirking, walked over to the door as Koji took another bite of the orange, "Finish those, or just the one in your hand. Either way, I'll be back in one hour." Koji growled as the door was closed and a large bolt slid into place. _I have to get out of here! But how? My d-tector's protected by a force-field! _He took another bite of the orange, determined to think of a plan to get his d-tector before Duskmon returned.

Amber gasped as her eyes flew open, struggling not to fall to her knees. Kijai grabbed her, steadying her, until she had stopped shaking, "Amber! What happened?" Amber ignored her and turned to Koichi, "Are you **sure** the cave is a day's walk from here?" Koichi nodded, "Possitive, but I wasn't digivolved or anything. I didn't have enough energy."  
"Well, we need to digivolve and get there in an hour. Koji's in more danger than ever!" Amber cried, grabbing her d-tector. Everyone else nodded and copied her actions. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  
"Syvotskimon!"  
"Linseemon!"  
"Oceanamon!"  
"Zemelenmon!"  
"Crushalimon!"  
"Hibutemon!"  
"Beetlemon!"  
"Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"  
"Zephyrmon!"  
"Solunsatamon!"  
"JagerLoweemon!"  
"Korikakkumon!"  
"BurningGreymon!"  
"ShadowAngewomon!"  
They all, either flying or running, began following JagerLoweemon who was running faster than ever before. Finally, fifty minutes later, they arrived at the large cave. Surprisingly, no one was on guard either inside or out, and they had no trouble reaching the door JagerLoweemon promised Koji was behind. ShadowAngewomon, being one of the only ones with hands gentle enough to slide back the bolt without breaking it, slid back the bolt and slowly opened the door.

Koji looked up as he heard the door open. _Duskmon's early. _He thought miserably, but anger turned to delight when he realised who it was. "KOJI!" Zephyrmon cried, flying in and grabbing him, lifting him slightly off the ground. Koji grinned, "Hey, Zo."  
"Koji! Are you okay?" Koji looked behind Zephyrmon to see JagerLoweemon and Oceanamon looking at him worriedly. He gave them a small thumbs-up to show them he was okay as Zephyrmon released him and glared at the chains. "Who here's got a sword?" she called as Syvotskimon moved forwards. Koji grimaced by force of habit as she raised her sword and brought it down on the chains, and then the force-field that was holding his d-tector, smashing it, enabling Koji to grab it and digivolve. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution! KendoGarurumon!" They rushed for the mouth of the cave to find it blocked by Duskmon. Smirking, Duskmon stood up from his action of leaning against the wall, walked over to the middle and drew his sword, "You're not going anywhere!"  
"Oh yeah? Well, who's gonna stop us?" BurningGreymon yelled. Duskmon smirked again and raised his sword, "Me."  
"You and what army? There's fourteen of us and only one of you!" Suddenly, a large hoard of shadow digimon ranging from DemiDevimon to IceDevimon appeared at the mouth of the cave just behind Duskmon who gestured to them with a large, evil grin on his face. KendoGarurumon gasped and felt several beads of sweat run down his forehead as the two groups stared at one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move, "Takuya? If we die 'cause of this, I'm gonna kill you."

* * *

**Me: **Sorry it's short. W.B.  
**Amber: **Preview  
Koji: Zoe! No!  
Takuya: Shamonmon can help us!  
Shamonmon: She will be reborn. I must speak with Darkness alone.  
Koichi: You mean...  
Shamonmon: She will be reborn, but you cannot tell her your feelings towards her or anything about her past


	25. Shinya's Teleporting Mishap (1)

**Shinya: **Last time on Return of the Spirits, we rescued Koji!  
**Duskmon:** Only to be cornered by yours truly.  
**Me:** *anime sweatdrop* How'd you get past security?  
**Security (Matt Ishida and Tai Kamiya): ***snore* *drool*  
**Duskmon:** Now, I will force Shinya to do the disclaimer!  
**Me: **Okaaaayy, this is just getting creepy. May I ask why?  
**Duskmon:** *shrug* It's the only bully-like thing I get to do here. *raises sword* Now say it!  
**Shinya:** *gulp* Kojiluvr doesn't own digimon and the poll for what Lyra should be ends in three chapters  
**Me: **Thanks, Dusky!  
**Duskmon: ***points sword at me* Don't call me that.  
**Me: **Yeaaaah, I'm going to leave now.

* * *

Zephyrmon froze as she stared at the large army gathered behind Duskmon, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. There was no way they could defeat that many digimon! Suddenly, she saw Hibutemon standing a few feet to her left and remembered his transporting (for lack of a better word) power. "Hibutemon! Can you get us out of here?" she hissed, keeping a wary eye on the enemy. Hibutemon glanced at her nervously, trembling slightly, "I-I don't know. I don't know if I can control it." Zephyrmon looked up again as KendoGarurumon took an involuntary step backwards, "I don't think it really matters where we go as long as we **go**!" Hibutemon, glancing at Loweemon, who was holding Lyra's digi-egg, nodded and closed his eyes as the scenery around the warriors began to change and Duskmon shrieked in rage.

Shinya groaned and opened his eyes to find himself sprawled on the ground in the middle of a long, cobbled street with a dozen digimon crowded around him. "Ugh… ugh… where am I?" The nearest one, a black, furry digimon wearing a blue hat stepped forwards, "You're on the Lost Island!" Suddenly, Shinya sat bolt-right up, eyes wide in horror, "Wait, where are my friends?" The digimon backed away a few steps, turned, and pointed to a spot where Koji and Harry were forcing themselves into a sitting position, digimon surrounding them as well. "Ugh… Bearmon?" Koji groaned, one eye closed, rubbing the back of his head from where he had obviously hit it. The cap-wearing digimon whipped around, a wide grin on his face, "Koji!" Koji smirked, reclining slightly as Bearmon leapt on him, knocking him over, "Calm down, Bearmon! It's me, alright?" He stood up as Bearmon released him from a rib-cracking grip and looked around, "Where are Takuya and the others?" Harry stood up next to him, looking around worriedly, "Amber? Are you here?" Koji glared at him, his midnight blue eyes narrowing dangerously, "Well, she's obviously not! We're the only ones here!" Shinya took a step towards them as Harry turned towards Koji, an equally fierce glare on his usually-placid face, "Actually… I'm here too." Koji whipped around to face the younger boy, his eyes hopeful for a moment, but they turned angry the second he saw Shinya, "Great. I'm stuck on a floating island with a second baby and a love-sick moron." Harry whipped around and grabbed the younger boy by the shoulder, "I think the only moron around here is you, and you're definitely love-sick." He relaxed his grip as Koji began to tremble so gently you wouldn't notice unless you were brushing off him. "Zoe's going to be fine," he added. "She can take care of herself." Koji whipped around, shoving Harry away, his raven ponytail whipping over his shoulder as Harry fell to the ground, "What makes you think I'm worried about Zoe?" he snapped, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Maybe I'm worried about Kijai, Koichi, Tommy… Amber…" Harry's eyes widened as Koji mumbled the last name so quietly it was barely comprehendible. _Wait… did he just say; Amber? _Koji turned away, blushing slightly as Harry realized he wasn't meant to hear that last part. Suddenly, a large tank rolled by, flashing different colours and began shooting at the surrounding digimon, the shooter obviously not caring who he shot as long as he shot someone. Koji growled and shoved Bearmon out of the way into a nearby house, quickly following him with Harry and Shinya running after him. About two dozen humanoid digimon began pouring out of the tanks, attacking any beast digimon they found, not caring if they were fresh or Ultimate. Koji growled as he grabbed his D-Tector. _This is just like last time!_

Takuya coughed and forced himself to his knees. He had fallen on a statue of some sort and fallen down seconds before. Standing next to him was a vaguely familiar digimon wearing chainmail and wielding a kendo stick. "Kotemon!" he cried, standing up as the digimon wrapped its arms around the brunettes legs. "Takuya! I'm so glad you're here!" The small digimon cried as Takuya spotted Amber, Tommy, Zoe and Katsuharu either groaning, standing up or exclaiming in delight as they saw Kotemon. "Um… do you… know this guy?" Amber asked, raising one eyebrow, glaring suspiciously at Kotemon. Takuya and Tommy nodded immediately, "Yeah, we met this guy on our last trip to the digital world. Kotemon; this is Amber, Zoe and Katsuharu." Kotemon grinned at each of the children, but yelled in fright as a large, brightly-coloured tank came into view, shooting at any digimon, not caring who was killed. Takuya grabbed Kotemon, pulling him into a nearby building as the others followed him and dozens of humanoid digimon ran out to fight. _Not again!_

Koichi grimaced and pushed himself up. He was lying on a bed next to Teppei, Teruo, JP, and Chiaki and Kijai were lying on beds pushed up against the opposite wall. "Ah, good. I see you have awakened," came a voice from a door in a shadowed corner. Koichi was immediately alert, blood pounding in his ears, "Who's there?" A green, ogre-like digimon wielding a large club stepped out of the shadows, Lyra's digi-egg in his hand, "It is I, Shamanmon." Koichi froze and stared at the egg as the others began to wake up, JP sitting bolt-right up as he saw Shamanmon. "Shamanmon! It's great to see you again! Does this mean… we're in Fortune Village?" the older boy asked, receiving a nod in response as Shamanmon carefully handed Koichi the egg. Upon receiving questioning glances from the others, JP explained how the group had first met Shamanmon and how he had foretold the future, sparking Koichi's interest immediately. "Could you do it now? Could… could you see if Lyra's digi-egg will hatch?" Shamanmon shrugged, closing his eyes momentarily as he motioned for the egg, "I don't know. Things just come to me if they are meant to-" Suddenly, the digimon's eyes glazed over as he stared at the egg, "The warrior of friendship will be reborn, and, upon recollection, the gift of love will be received, giving her a power never experienced before." He blinked as Koichi grabbed his shoulders, "What do you mean, 'the gift of love'?" Shamanmon shrugged, but his eyes drifted to JP, "Could you leave the room for a moment? I must speak to the wielder of Darkness alone." JP shrugged and motioned for the others to follow him out of the room as Koichi nervously looked up to face Shamanmon. "Wielder of Darkness, the spirits have informed me of your affection for friendship," Shamanmon explained, wasting no time getting to the point. "However, if you tell her anything about her past life, it could mean the difference between the end or the saving of the digital world." Koichi gasped, his eyes wide in horror, "You… you mean-"  
"Yes. When Friendship is reborn, you can't tell her how you feel about her." Koichi shook his head and took the egg, holding it to his chest, slight tears forming in the sides of his eyes, "Will… she ever… remember?" Shamanmon shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't answer that question. It all depends on what you do."

* * *

**Me: **I'm sorry about how short these are getting. I'm ending the story soon and am running out of ideas, so if you have any, please let me know!  
**Shinya:** Kojiluvr? Why is Duskmon still here?  
**Duskmon:** *points sword at us*  
**Us:** SH!T! *runs into random room and slams door in Duksmon's face*


	26. Shinya's Teleporting Mishap (2)

**Me: **HI!  
**Amber: **You're back...  
**Duskmon: **So am I!  
**Shinya: **Great...  
**Me: **Sorry for the late update. I had writers block.  
**Chiaki: **Couldn't you have made it last a bit longer?  
**Me: **You guys really hate me, don't you?  
**Everyone: **YES!  
**Takuya:** You torture us...  
**Me: **Oh my God! Really?  
**Zoe: **YEAH!  
**Me: **I'm so sorry. *sob* I never wanted to hurt you...  
**Kijai: **It's okay  
**Me: **PHSYCHE! NOW YOU ALL SUFFER MORE! *evil laugh* Duskmon! Commence!  
**Duskmon: ***points sword at JP* Explain idea. Now.  
**JP: ***speaking really fast* kojiluvr wants you readers to interview us characters. All you need to do is think of five questions you want to ask us and send her the name of whoever you want to interview and the questions in a review or private message. And there's an example at the end of the story.  
**Duskmon: **Good. Now you! *points sword at Koji* Say the disclaimer!  
**Koji: **... No.  
**Duskmon: ***gasp* Wait... what? You're... refusing to do something I ordered you to?! *sob* My life has become meaningless! *runs out door*  
**Me: ***gulps and looks at angry characters* Um... please?  
**Koichi:** *smirk* Okay. Kojiluvr owns everything! Sue her!  
**Me: **Than- wait what? *glances at random fankids and lawyers* NO! I DONT OWN ANYTHING! *screams and runs away*  
**Amber: **Oh, and the poll for what Lyra will become ends in four chapters!  
**Koichi:** Yeah, so vote so we know what she'll become!

* * *

Koichi sighed, clutching Lyra's digi-egg tightly as he left Fortune Village, shortly followed by his sister, Teppei, Teruo, JP and Chiaki with Shamanmon waving at them in farewell. "So, Koichi! What did Shamanmon want to talk to you about?" JP asked curiously as Koichi jumped, startled by the voice breaking through his mental silence.

Ducking his head slightly, Koichi shook his head, "Um… he told me… he told me that…" _Why is this so hard? Why can't I just tell him?_

"The truth is… he said when Lyra hatches-"

"Well, well, well! What a sorry bunch of fashionably challenged losers we have here!" a high-pitched, girly voice cried, cutting Koichi off.

Kijai frowned and squinted up at the speaker, who was perching on top of the roof of a small shrine, caught in a beam of sunlight, "Who are you?"

The woman giggled slightly and jumped down, shortly followed by a green, plant-like digimon, her strawberry hair flowing behind her as the boys froze, all staring at her.

She had strawberry-blonde hair with a bright orange streak of hair on either side of her face, green eyes, a pale complexion and was wearing a neon green-and-orange strapless tube top, thigh-high orange boots and a green skirt that didn't even reach the top of her boots.

"I am Mimi Tachikawa, and you are in the way of my master's right to this world. Palmon!" she cried as the digimon beside her nodded.

"Palmon digivolve to… Togemon! Togemon digivolve to… Lilymon!"

Koichi froze, staring at the flower-fairy digimon in horror. _She's an Ultimate. An __**Ultimate**__! For Pete's sake, we had enough trouble defeating the Champion digimon!_

"Come on, guys! We can do this!" Kijai exclaimed, drawing out her blue-and-purple D-Tector, her face full of determination, but her eyes showing the emotions of worry and uncertainty.

"Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  
"Oceanamon!"  
"Beetlemon!"  
"Linseemon!"  
"Crushalimon!"  
"Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"  
"JagerLoweemon!"  
"ShadowAngewomon!"

"Really? That's it? I was hoping for a whole party, not just some meagre get-together!" Mimi said, pouting huffily. "Oh, well. Lillymon!"

Lillymon nodded, scowling at the warriors, thrusting her arms in front of her, "Flower Cannon!"

JagerLoweemon gasped and lunged out of the way, taking Oceanamon with him, "Get down!" ShadowAngewomon, who was holding Lyra's egg, flew up and aimed her arrow at Lillymon, "Evil Point!"

Lillymon was enveloped by smog, leaving ShadowAngewomon smirking, but when the smog cleared, everyone gasped. There wasn't a single scratch on the digimon and she didn't seem at all phased. If anything, she looked pissed, "You're gonna pay for that! Temptation!"

JagerLoweemon let out a cry of shock, coated in weariness, as he felt his energy being absorbed by the fairy and data cocooned him, leaving him on the ground in his human form.

"Now you have two choices; either join me or be destroyed!" Mimi cried, jumping onto the shrine roof again.

After forcing himself to his knees, Koichi looked around to see that everyone, bar Kijai, was in the same condition as him, but Kijai was in a far worse position.

"You know what? **You're **the fashionably challenged one!" Kijai yelled up at Mimi, just at the base of the shrine. "You're just some… wannabe… egotistical… slut!"

Suddenly, the base of the shrine began to glow a calming blue colour, faint but there, but Kijai was to wrapped up in insulting Mimi to notice, "That's right! Whatever friends you have are only your friends to get into bed with you, and nothing more! You're beauty is only skin deep and, as far as this battle is going, I'd say the only thought in your mind is attack and destroy! I'd rather **die** than join you!"

Everyone swore they saw steam coming out of the blonde's ears, but before she could order Lillymon to attack, something blue shot out of the shrine and towards Kijai, who stared at it in awe before pointing her D-Tector at it and yelling, "Beast Spirit, come to me!"

The spirit was absorbed by her D-Tector and when Kijai looked up at Mimi again, her eyes were burning with determination, "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"

She let out a strangled cry as blue-purple armour coated her body, drawing her legs together so that they were like a tail. Her hair turned aquamarine and grew to waist level while two, blue fins sprouted from her shoulder blades, her fingers became webbed and her skin turned a blue colour. She blinked open her eyes, revealing them to be a crimson colour and she smirked as she cried out, "PearlMermaimon!"

Smirking, she turned to face Lillymon, her face calm and serene.

"She's controlling her Beast Spirit!" Teruo cried, forcing himself to his knees as PearlMermaimon lunged at Lillymon.

"Transcendent Waves!" PearlMermaimon cried, thrusting her hands towards Lillymon as she was enveloped in a whirlpool of water that sped towards the fairy digimon, before disappearing as PearlMermaimon hit her in the stomach with her tail, causing Lillymon's fractal code to appear.

"Slide Evolution; Oceanamon! Soul tainted by evil, let the glorious waves purify you! Fractal code, digitise!" Mimi let out a cry of shock as Lillymon was reverted to a small, green, plant-digimon as a soft light enveloped her.

When it cleared, she was wearing a blue-and-red, tube t-shirt with a star printed on it, a blue skirt and a pair of brown, ankle boots.

"Tanemon! Are you alright?" Mimi cried, rushing forwards to pick up her partner as Kijai de-digivolved, falling to her knees, exhausted.

Suddenly, everyone shielded their eyes as a bright flash of light appeared, leaving Ken in front of them as it dimmed.

"Mimi. Come with me. We need to go back to the real world," Ken explained before turning to face the others. "Izzy re-programmed his computer so that we could watch your journey and come here to collect our friends whenever you save one of them. But we can only stay for a few minutes."

As if to prove his point, he began to fade, grabbing Mimi so she would go with him, "Also, your friends are on the Island of Lost Digimon!" And with that, he disappeared completely, leaving the six digidestined staring at where he had been in amazement.

"So… um… where exactly is this Island?" Teppei finally asked as Kijai stood up.

Koichi shook his head and glanced at JP, who shrugged, "We were there once, before you joined us, Koichi, but we don't exactly know how we got there."

Chiaki sighed and glanced at the wide, open plain in front of them, "I guess we'd better go look for it."

And then, as if on cue, they all heard a rumbling sound and looked up to see a black, solid-cloud-like object cover the sun, the sounds of fighting coming from it, but suddenly the fighting stopped, broken by the sounds of KendoGarurumon howling.

* * *

**Me: ***still trying to avoid lawyers and fan kids* NO! GET BACK! I DON'T OWN DIGIMON! I DON'T!  
**Koji: **Yes, she does! Get her!  
**Me: **NO! *screams in horror and faints*  
**Amber: **Is she out?  
**Katsuharu:** *pokes me and nods* Yeah!  
**Everyone: **WAHOO! PARTY!

* * *

**Interview: **This chapter, digiwonder will be interviewing Koji Minamoto!  
1. **digiwonder: **Do you think Zoe and Koichi should go out?  
**Koji:** What the hell?! NO! **I'm **going out with Zoe!

2. **digiwonder: **Would you rather kill Takuya or kiss Grumblemon?  
**Koji:** Hand me a knife! Hey, Takuya?

3. **digiwonder: **How did you feel when you were being stalked by your own brother?  
**Koji: **Well, considering the fact that I didn't even know it until the digital world, at which point I was to confused or happy to think about it, and when we got home he had almost died so I was too grateful that he was still alive to really care, but now that you mention it, it's kind of creepy.

4. **digiwonder: **Did you have a crush on Ranamon? I've seen you staring at her for seconds (mainly when she was talking)!  
**Koji: **N-no! Never! *blushes a tomato colour and looks away, embarrassed* Well... maybe... once... Um... next question! *blushes a beetroot colour*

5. **digiwonder: **Would you go out with kojiluvr?  
**Koji: **NO! She tortures us...


	27. Chapter 27: Aizarumon and Grace

**kojiluvr: **OMG! Just had an epic - but not slow-mo - slip-and-fall!  
**Koichi: **Thanks for bringing up painful memories.  
**kojiluvr: **You're welcome!  
**Shinya: **And kojiluvr gave me candy to say that she is entering the story, so that when there are brackets, she actually talks!  
**Katsuharu: **WHAT?! Why?  
**kojiluvr: ***shrug* To torment everyone but Shinya and Tommy more.  
**Koji: **Why do they get special treatment?  
**Tommy: **We gave her a slushie! :D  
**kojiluvr: **Yep! And, Dig-fan Capp? I think you'll like the next B.S! Anyway, Koji, you can answer reviews while I get another slushie. *walks away*  
**Koji: **Hey! Wait! Get back here, motherfu-  
**Koichi: ***cuts Koji off* VOTE FOR WHAT LYRA WILL BECOME! So far a tie and unless she gets more votes, kojiluvr will decide!  
**Lyra (as an egg): ***jump, jump, shake* (NOOOOOOOOO!)

* * *

**Digi-fan Capp: **What she needed to do was get caught by the lawyers! Not run! (Koji! Be nice!) Fine. Thanks for reviewing and doing the interview thing and reading this trash. (KOJI!) WHAT?! (Do the face!) Do I have to? (YES!) Fine! ^.^ Happy now? (Yep! *grins and sips slushie)

* * *

"Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"  
"KendoGarurumon!"  
"Solunsatamon!" "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"  
"Hibutemon!"

KendoGarurumon growled as he glanced around, straining his eyes for the leader…

"Hello, Light." Came a voice behind him.

KendoGarurumon grinned underneath his armour, "Hey, Takuya. How about you give us a hand?"

"I'm not Takuya!" The voice exclaimed, a hint of exasperation in it. (Thanks to Michael Riesz for voicing Taky as well and making it easy to make fun of Matt!) (Matt: This is a story, kojiluvr! Not your beginning commentary!) (Geez! Sorry, Taky!) (Matt: I'M NOT TAKUYA!) (Fine!) Koji whipped his head around as he came face-to-face with a tall, blonde boy, around sixteen, with piercing blue eyes, much the same colour as TK's.

"Who are you?" KendoGarurumon growled, not wanting to attack if it wasn't necessary.

The boy smirked and snapped his fingers, signalling a tall, purple-and-white werewolf-like creature to come towards him, "I am Matt Ishida, holder of the crest of Friendship, and your rival, Light. WereGarurumon!"

WereGarurumon nodded, turning to glare at KendoGarurumon (Damn, it's annoying to write those two names in the same sentence!) I'm not even going to justify that with a response. (Didn't you just… never mind), his eyes glinting in a lethal manner, "Garuru Kick!"

KendoGarurumon barely had any time to dodge as his humanoid relative. (They're both descendants from AncientGarurumon.) We know that, kojiluvr! Especially on my part! (Sorry, Koji. Sorry.) Whipping around, he rolled his eyes at kojiluvr and lowered his wheels, glaring furiously at WereGarurumon, "**Howling Star**!"

"**Wolf Claw**!" WereGarurumon countered, his claws screeching as they met Koji's Chrome Digizoid armour, before the two attacks blew both of them backwards.

Letting out another deep growl, Koji forced himself up, glancing around to see if his comrades were faring much better than him.

They weren't.

Hibutemon was struggling with a fat, turtle-like digimon weilding a large, electrical hammer, commanded by a boy of seventeen, his glasses glinting in the sunlight and the flashes - a result of two attacks rebounding off one another - his raven hair - only a shade lighter than Koichi's - blowing behind him as he smirked, his pale skin and cobalt eyes making it all the more startling, if not for the sinister smirk etched on his face.

Solunsatamon was keeping his own against a bird-hybrid - mainly because the bird's attacks were fire as well - but was quickly tiring, much to the apparent amusement of a tall girl, her shoulder-length, tangerine hair whipping her face, half-hiding her malachite eyes which were dancing with amusement.

"Concentrate on the battle at hand!" WereGarurumon yelled, annoyed that his opponent had taken his attention off of him. "**Wolf Claw**!"

Koji whipped his head around and lunged out of the way, but the claws had already pierced through a part of the armour and now, as he lunged away, were tearing through his arm. Letting out a gasp of pain - and concealing a shriek - Koji dropped to the ground as data cocooned him, leaving him in his human form.

"This is what you get for trying to defeat me," he heard WereGarurumon cry as he forced himself, shakily, to his knees. "**Garuru Kick**!" That - and a searing pain just below his spine - was all he remembered before he gave way to the shadows threatening to overcome him.

* * *

Harry growled as he saw WereGarurumon kick Koji into the ground, anger burning up inside him, fuelling him.

"Concentrate on the fight at hand!" he heard his opponent, Garudamon, cry.

"Very well, then," he snarled, venom in his voice, hatred half-clouding his eyes. "But you're not going to like it! **Molten Perseids**!"

Garudamon smirked, but growled after a few seconds, finding herself unable to deflect the flaming meteors and was hit, "How… how did you?"

"Friendship," Harry growled, "is a powerful thing, which gets dangerous if you hurt my friends. **Solar Slayer**!"

Garudamon let out a shriek as the fiery ball engulfed her, only holding out because she too was a fire digimon, but rather than energizing her, the attack did the same that any non-fire attacks would. It injured her.

"**Sword of Flame**!" He cried, grabbing his sword as it was encased in raging flames, lunging at Garudamon, who shrieked in horror before being reduced to a small, pink bulb.

The tangerine-haired girl blinked, her eyes becoming normal again as she took in the state of her partner, "Yokomon!" Glancing up at Solunsatamon, she smiled, "Thanks for freeing me."

Harry shrugged, glancing over his shoulder as he flew towards Hibutemon, "Just be ready for Izzy. He'll be here soon to take you home."

* * *

Shinya groaned as he was thrown to the ground, reverted to his human form, before forcing himself to his knees, glaring at the Zudomon he was fighting.

"Face it. Without your Beast Spirit, you just can't compare to my Zudomon!" The raven-haired boy cried, smirking deviously.

"You're…" Shinya muttered, before scowling, "You're wrong! We're the good guys, so we'll beat you, you meanie!" (The worst thing I'll ever let Shinya or Tommy say.) Meanie! (I know, I know. Back into position!) Glaring at me, Shinya turned back to face the boy, "And even if I don't beat you, Koji and Harry will! I believe in my friends!"

Suddenly, a pillar of light erupted just in front of him, glowing a pale, pink colour. Growling, Shinya pulled out his D-Tector, pointing it directly at the glowing orb in the middle of the pillar, "BEAST SPIRIT!"

Smirking slightly at the boy, Shinya held up his hand, allowing multiple circles of data to envelop it before slamming it into his D-Tector, "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"

His body became coated in furry, pink-and-beige armour with a long, beige tail, topped by a golden tip while his nose became long and pointed. His eyes became glowing orbs of silver as silver, angel wings attached themselves to his back. Grabbing his weapons; a crossbow/light saber, he grinned as he grew to the size of Korikakumon. (Feel the force!) Please don't torture me, kojiluvr! I'll give you a slushie! (Okay then! *sips slushie*) Rolling his eyes at me - again - he let out a low squeak as he stood up and yelled out his name, "Aizarumon!"

* * *

Harry chuckled slightly at Shinya's lemur-like appearance, but growled, glancing sideways at WereGarurumon - who was advancing on Koji again. "Hey! Wolfy!" he called, lunging for the wolf as he turned to face him, "Your fight's far from over yet!"

* * *

Koji groaned, blinking open his eyes. They were heavy, really heavy, but they widened when he saw where he was. He was in a long, empty tunnel, radiating light, floating in mid-air, "Hello?"

Hearing a childish giggle, he whipped around, "Who's there?"

The voice giggled again as a mist appeared just to Koji's left, "Silly puppy. Don't you remember me?"

Koji growled, not liking the 'puppy' comment, "Who are you?"

As his eyes adjusted to the light, they widened taking in the speaker's appearance. She had long, flowing hair which was rippling down her white dress which was - on closer inspection - Grecian. On her feet were jewel-adorned golden sandals and, on her right arm, an unusual, pale-blue tattoo spiralled from her shoulder to her wrist. But that wasn't what captivated Koji. It was her eyes.

Her eyes were a rainbow of colours, blue one minute, golden the next, then red, then green and so on.

Suddenly, her face grew depressed, "Puppy, don't you remember me?"

Koji shook his head, gasping as a tear trickled down the girl's cheek, "You… must have known Lobomon! I just carry his spirit!"

The girl giggled again, the tears drying, "Oh! Okay! Well, my name's Grace!"

Koji nodded, watching as the exited girl danced around him. "That still doesn't explain who you are," he commented dryly after several minutes of watching Grace.

Grinning from ear to ear, she held out Koji's two spirits, watching as they flew to either side of him, "I'm the one who gave Patamon power to make you fusion spirit evolve, and who's giving you the power to do so now! Does that help?"

Koji shook his head, making Grace sighed, "I created you, puppy. I created the spirits of Light and, in doing so, I became…"

"You're Light," Koji muttered, watching as Grace nodded before the tunnel began to fade.

"I'll see you again soon, puppy!" She called after him as he pulled out his D-Tector.

"EXECUTE! FUSION EVOLUTION!"

* * *

**Interview: **This chapter, Digi-fan Capp will be interviewing Lyra Hidaka! ^.^

1. **Digi-fan Capp: **How exactly does kojiluvr torture you?  
**Lyra: **Let's see... chainsaws, katanas, past memories, bazookas... *five hours later* and slushies! That's about it!

2. **Digi-fan Capp: **Do you like Koichi?  
**Lyra: **You haven't guessed that I do already considering my worst fear was him dying? Yes!

3. **Digi-fan Capp: **Would you rather kiss Takuya, or tell Koichi you hate him?  
**Lyra: ***shudder* I hate you for this. Takuya! Pucker up!

4. **Digi-fan Capp: **How much longer 'til you hatch?  
**Lyra: **Three or four chapters at most. I'm to valuable to be cut for much longer! :)

5. **Digi-fan Capp: **Can eggs dance?  
**Lyra: **Hell yeah! Watch this! *starts dancing to some random song doing all Michael Jackson moves ever created*

* * *

**Koji: **That was...  
**Tommy: **Random.  
**Everyone: **Please review!


	28. Chapter 28: Flame of the Moon

Hey, again, guys! I'm back with another chapter of tRotS!

Thanks for the many reviews, all of which I'll be answering in a minute.

Just so you know, I'm writing an original fiction as well as all my fanfics, so if it takes me longer than usual to update, don't worry about it! I'm not going anywhere! :D

And this chapter is dedicated to, oddly enough, Will Sheehy, who **really **reminds me of Taky.

Anyway, REVIEWS! :D

* * *

**Reviews:**

**DigiFan-Capp: **Thanks, as always, for your review. And the only reason I kept a character from answering these this time around is because Lyra's pissed off at you and would probably take up three pages yelling. But she says no prob for the dancing!

**digiwonder: **Thanks, as always, for the compliment and reviewing, and only if she wants to.

**zaviour: **Thanks loads for interviewing!

**Ashleigh Piccinino: **Thanks! I will keep updating, and the writing gets a bit better after the eleventh chapter.

* * *

Okay, well I guess it's time for the chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

Takuya growled, whipping out his D-Tector and allowing fractal code to envelop his hand. _I won't let this happen! Not again!_

"Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!"  
"Korikakkumon!"  
"Zephyrmon!"  
"BurningGreymon!"

"Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  
"Syvotskimon!"  
"Linseemon!"

"Why is this happening again?" BurningGreymon queried rhetorically as he searched for the leader of the ambushing digimon.

"Because it is necessary."

"Teppei?"

"I'm not Teppei! Do I look like that little brat?" (Yay for Joshua Seth! Man, I love making characters think bad guys are someone else!)

BurningGreymon whipped around - after glaring at kojiluvr - to see a tall, hazel haired boy watching him in amusement, "Who are you?"

"Tai Kamiya," he replied, bowing in greeting. "Your defeater. MetalGreymon!"

A large, dino-like digimon flew down, landing beside his partner before nodding and lunging at BurningGreymon, "**Tera Destroyer!**"

"**Wildfire Tsunami!**" BurningGreymon countered, letting out a cry of shock as his attack was cancelled out, but MetalGreymon's continued flying through the air until it hit him.

"You see," Tai smirked as MetalGreymon advanced on BurningGreymon. "My digimon is much stronger than you thanks to Merukimon. You just can't compare."

"**Mega Claw!**" MetalGreymon added, driving his claw into BurningGreymon's back, forcing him to de-digivolve and fall to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Amber growled, glancing around for BurningGreymon. She, Zephyrmon, Korikakkumon and Linseemon had all been fighting Paildramon (Veemon's Ultimate form) in vain - especially after she had de-digivolved - but BurningGreymon had been all alone. _Where is he? _

Suddenly, she saw Takuya's unconscious form on the ground in the shadow of MetalGreymon, "Takuya!"

Growling deeply, she leapt forward, skidding to a halt next to Takuya and lifting up his head, "Takuya? Takuya, are you okay?"

After getting no response, she growled, glaring at MetalGreymon, "You are going to **pay** for what you did to him! I won't let you get away with this!"

Suddenly, a glowing pillar of light erupted from the ground right in front of her, a small, voodoo-like figure in the middle of it.

Amber's eyes glazed over for a moment before she growled, pulling out her D-Tector, "BEAST SPIRIT!"

"Execute!" she cried, slamming her fractal-code-cocooned hand into her D-Tector. "Beast Spirit Evolution!"

Her hair shortened until it was at ear level and she growled deeply as she was covered in silver armour. The lunar symbol was stamped onto her chest as she jumped into the air, landing on all fours. Where armour wasn't covering, grey fur grew, wolf ears pricked up between the armour, a piston attached itself to her back and her eyes turned from amber to green as she glared at MetalGreymon, "Marolfmon!"

* * *

Takuya groaned, blinking his eyes open to find himself in an aflame tunnel. Flames were licking at his feet, but, surprisingly, they weren't hot. "Where am I?"

"Hi!"

Takuya jumped, whipping around as he came face-to-face with a girl who looked about eight years old.

Her fiery coloured hair cascaded over her shoulders, ending at the end of her spine, while her pale skin made her orange tattoos - which were spiralling down her left arm - all the more startling. Her dress looked like it was made of red velvet - despite the warm temperature of the room they were in - and had many frills at the hems. But none of that was what caught Takuya's attention most. It was her eyes.

He could literally see images of flames in her blue eyes, burning, destroying-

"Takuya!" she snapped, drawing him out of his trance. She smiled, her features softening, "Sorry. My eyes have that affect on people."

"Um… okay," Takuya muttered, watching as the girl grinned. "Who are you?"

The girl grinned, bringing her face closer to Takuya's so they were almost nose-to-nose, "My name's Blaire!"

Takuya sighed, shaking his head as she giggled and skipped around him, "And why am I here? Am I dead?"

Blaire shook her head, "No, you're not dead. You're here because… because…" she frowned, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand, "Damn it! Curse this short attention span. Um… oh, yeah!"

She grinned widely, reaching behind her back and pulling out Takuya's spirits, "I was supposed to give you these! Sorry about that!"

Takuya frowned as the two spirits floated towards him, "But… I already have my spirits…"

"I know!" Blaire giggled, grinning widely, "I'm giving you the power to fusion evolve!"

"I fusion evolved before without going through this…"

"Yeah, but then again, so did Koji. And anyway, things are different now. It's not as simple. All of us guardians will have to go through this with the people who carry our spirits."

Takuya gasped as Blaire began to fade away, "Who are you really?"

"I am, Blaire; the creator of Flame!" Came the reply as Takuya pulled out his D-Tector.

"EXECUTE! FUSION EVOLUTION!"

* * *

Marolfmon glared at MetalGreymon, bearing her teeth, "You're going to fucking pay for what you did! I won't let you get away with this!"

"Oooh, upset because I hurt your boyfriend?" MetalGreymon taunted, smirking.

Under her armour and fur, Marolfmon blushed before shaking her head, "**Claw Canon!**"

MetalGreymon laughed as the claw-shaped energy ricocheted off his armour, hitting Linseemon - who was knocked to the ground, "If your boyfriend couldn't defeat me in his Beast Spirit, what makes you think that **you** could? **Tera Destroyer!**"

Amber shrieked in pain as she landed on the ground in her human form and MetalGreymon raised his foot over her, "Goodbye, weakling!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The speakers voice was backed up by a loud, anguished howl in the distance that Amber knew was Koji, but she had no idea how to help him.

Both she and MetalGreymon looked up to see Takuya standing just behind them, eyes blazing with fury and passion as he held up his D-Tector, "EXECUTE! FUSION EVOLUTION!"

* * *

Okay, that's it for now!

Zoe:… You suck at writing this story. You know that?

Yeah, I know. Sorry for the suckish endings, but seriously! I can't think of anything!

Tommy: Why didn't I speak in this?

Katsuharu: Yeah, no one but Tai, MetalGreymon, Takuya and Amber spoke in this one!

… Shut up.

Zoe: *sigh* Vote for what Lyra will be when she hatches, cause voting polls are closed after the next chapter!

Koichi: VOTE! FREAKING VOTE!

JP: Calm down, Koichi. She'll be fine.

Kijai: And what did Shamanmon tell you anyway?

Koichi:… um, *mutters something under breath* yeah. Well, please review and interview a character!

Kijai: What did that have to do with-

Kijai? Just leave it. Okay, interview time!

* * *

**This time, zaviour will be interviewing Takuya Kanbara!**

(Sweet! This is gonna be interesting! *smirks, grabs box of popcorn and video camera to record interview*)

**1. zaviour: **Would you be rather be beaten by Zoe or kiss Koji?  
**Takuya: **Zoe! No questions asked! At least then I can say I was taking it easy in her or something, but with Koji it'd seem like I was gay…

**2. zaviour: **Do you regret not asking Zoe out?  
**Takuya **Yeah, but she never liked me in that way. And she's really happy with Koji, as far as I know.

**3. zaviour: **If you had to go out with a girl, who would it be?  
**Takuya: **Either Amber or that Grace-Light girl, seeing as Zoe's out of the picture. Grace seems really loose and fun and Amber's really nice and friendly, despite her paranoia… and cute…

**4. zaviour: **Wanna go out with me?  
**Takuya: **Depends on if you're a girl or not. If you are and you look like Grace, Zoe or Chiaki, sure!

**5. zaviour: **If you were given the power to convert someone into a girl, Who would it be?  
**Takuya: **… Probably Koji. It'd be really funny to see him freak out, although there probably wouldn't be that much difference! *evil grin* (Koji: I heard that!) You were supposed to!


	29. Chapter 29: Together Again

Wow. The twenty eighth (ninth) chapter. I only just realised that I'm ending this soon.

Anyway, more important matters, I need votes. This is your **LAST CHANCE **to vote for what Lyra will become, because as soon as I begin the next chapter, I'm closing the polls. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, please vote, review and interview a character. Remember: Although this is cheesy, your opinion seriously matters with this story. SO PLEASE **VOTE**!

**I used to own digimon. But then Toei animation stole it from me. But they didn't get my OC's! :D No, seriously, I don't own digimon. So don't write any letters/emails. Or I can get sued by lawyers and I need to stay away from lawyers. Lawyers bad.**

* * *

**Reviews:**

**Lady Jamboreemon: **Great! And thanks! Hope you like this chapter!

* * *

**Return of the Spirits  
Chapter 28 (29 if you include the Prologue)  
Together Again**

* * *

Koichi cried out in horror as he heard KendoGarurumon's anguished howl split through the air, his whole body aching.

As his sister fell to her knees, her eyes glazed over, Chiaki grabbed his shoulders to prevent him from doing the same. He didn't know where the pain was coming from, or why, but he did know one thing.

His brother needed him.

And then, everything went dark.

* * *

Koichi blinked open his eyes, finding himself in a dark, misty area, no lights in sight, and yet the area seemed to be glowing slightly, in the sense that it wasn't impossible to see.

Hearing a slight giggle, he glanced around, his eyebrows furrowing into a slight frown, "Hello?"

"Hi, kitty!" came the childish reply as a girl hopped in front of Koichi. "How've ya been?"

His frown deepened a tiny bit as he took in the girl's appearance. Her hair was inky black and pin-straight, reaching her lower back while purple-and-black tattoos spiralled down the left side of her face. Her dress was a gothic black with a black lace hem, black tights and matching shoes while around her neck was a silver chain making her look slightly depressing, not matching her attitude in any way, shape or form. And her eyes were swirling colours of darkness, purples, violets, indigos, blacks…

"Kitty?"

Koichi shook his head violently before glancing at the girl again to see her giggling, "Sorry about that. Just don't look at my eyes and you should be fine, alright?"

Nodding slowly, Koichi raised one eyebrow, "Who are you?"

The girl paused for a moment, seemingly pondering her answer carefully, before grinning again, "I don't really know! I'm called a lot of things, but I guess I'm Darkness. You can call me Leilah though!"

Not giving Koichi a chance to reply, she grabbed his hand, pressing two, smallish objects into it, "A present from me! Somehow, my sister managed to cut off all other ways to fusion evolve, but we guardians managed to figure out a way around it."

This time, there was enough of a pause for Koji to cut in, "Your **sister**?"

Leilah nodded, sadness clouding her eyes, "Grace. Or Light, whichever you prefer. She's the one who corrupted Merukimon."

Koichi's heart almost stopped as he gaped in shock, "The creator of **Light** is behind this?!"

Leilah nodded before glancing up as a tinkling-bell-noise sounded, "Sorry, I have to go. Just watch out for your brother and everything should be fine!"

As she faded away, Koichi nodded, grabbing his D-Tector from his pocket, "EXECUTE! FUSION EVOLUTION!"

* * *

"BeoWolfmon!" Koji cried, revealing his armed-wolf form, a perfect mixture of KendoGarurumon and Lobomon, before turning to glare at WereGarurumon, "You know what? You're right. This battle is **over**! **Cleansing Light**!"

WereGarurumon let out a howl of horror as the missiles made contact, driving him into a nearby wall as BeoWolfmon turned to Aizarumon's fight.

Aizarumon was now struggling to stay digivolved, while the Zudomon seemed to be faring much the same, but a small bit stronger than Aizarumon.

Raising his sword, BeoWolfmon directed it at Zudomon and used his "**Frozen Hunter**!" attack before leaving Aizarumon to scan his fractal code and turning back towards WereGarurumon, eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is the last time you'll ever attack an innocent digimon! **Beo Saber**!"

Letting out a strangled gasp, WereGarurumon dropped to the ground, his fractal code appearing as BeoWolfmon slashed him with the sabre (Unfortunately not Light Sabre) and rolled his eyes at Kojiluvr.

"Soul tainted by evil," BeoWolfmon growled, gripping his D-Tector with unusual tenseness. "The Light will purify you. Fractal code, digitise!"

Matt dropped to the ground, his eyes clearing as WereGarurumon de-digivolved into a small, orange ball and Koji fell to his knees in his human form, panting heavily.

Not glancing up as Matt extended a hand to help him up, explaining that he had gone to the digital world to help Ken after a few real-world minutes and had been turned evil, Koji gripped his head as he heard a childish giggle.

_~Hello again, puppy!~_

* * *

"EXECUTE! FUSION EVOLUTION! ALDAMON!"

MetalGreymon took an involuntary step backwards as he stared in astonishment at Aldamon, his eyes wide.

"So, I'm a weakling, huh?" Aldamon growled, "**Atomic Inferno!**"

MetalGreymon let out a cry of pain as the missiles rocketed into him, making large dents in his armour. But Aldamon wasn't done yet. "Well excuse this weakling for getting mad when you threaten his friends! **Solar Wind DESTROYER!**"

Aldamon smirked as he scanned MetalGreymon's fractal code, causing him to de-digivolve into a purple egg-shaped digimon with antennae, and he turned around, flying towards Paildramon. Seeing reinforcements, Davis growled, jumping onto the latter digimon, "Come on, Paildramon. We can fight another day."

"You're not going anywhere!" A voice squeaked and all of the digimon and humans glanced up to see Solunsatamon, BeoWolfmon and a lemur-like digimon running their way. "If you think you can just destroy half an island's inhabitants and get away with it, you're wrong!" the lemur growled, narrowing his eyes.

Davis smirked as Paildramon flew into the air, "And who's going to stop me?"

"I will," a voice growled, making Davis whip around just in time to order Paildramon out of the way before a staff could throw said digimon to the ground. "And I will stop anyone who tries to destroy my friends!"

* * *

Rhihimon growled, leaping into the air, grabbing Lyra's digi-egg in the process as he flew towards the floating island, smiling gratefully as he saw the form of BeoWolfmon running along the edge.

Until he remembered that the guardian who gave him the ability to fusion evolve was evil.

Growling, he pushed himself to fly faster until he finally spotted Davis flying on an unknown digimon, asking who would be able to stop him escaping. "I will," Rhihimon growled, aiming his staff at the digimon, which unfortunately managed to evade the attack, "And I will stop anyone who tries to destroy my friends!"

At that moment, the digi-egg in Rhihimon's hands began glowing softly, floating out of his grip and into the air before the light became almost blinding.

As he blinked his eyes, trying to be rid of the black dots clouding his vision, Rhihimon gasped as he saw a figure floating in mid-air, green-and-purple D-Tector already in hand. "Execute," the figure muttered. "Spirit Evolution! Flasinamon!"

Rhihimon's heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the figure above him that had entered his dreams son many times since Lyra's 'death' but, as Paildramon flew away, unable to fight so many digimon in only his Ultimate form and needing more power to digivolve to the Mega level, Flasinamon dropped to the ground, de-digivolve almost immediately.

But as Rhihimon landed beside the de-digivolved Flasinamon, de-digivolve himself, he froze, his heart leaping to his mouth. Because the figure in front of him was most certainly not Lyra.

* * *

Grace smirked as she glanced around, watching as Koji gripped his head. She didn't mean to cause her puppy harm, but - in her eyes - it was the only way to bring him back to her.

But as 'Friendship's' digi-egg hatched, she growled, narrowing her eyes. Now two of the three elements that could 'corrupt' her puppy had the power to do so. And it was only a matter of time before the Lunar guardian managed to contact Amber.

Well, she would just have to act before they could 'corrupt' him again. And that was exactly what she would do.

* * *

Dun, dun, dun! What will happen to Koji? And what has Lyra become? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!


	30. Ch 29 or 30: You Look Young and She

Okay, got kinda bored and was mainly reading all weekend. Kinda sick today, so sorry if story's kinda sloppy… And sorry for bad title. Got kinda stuck there.

Um… okay, well, I guess just please review, good luck with your writing and have a good day!

* * *

**Reviews:**

**DigiFan-Capp:  
**Can anyone honestly say they like Grace? Especially when… wait, I haven't written that yet… um… never mind! Just, relax. At least you know she… wait I haven't written that either… um… well, good luck with getting apprehension out of your head now! Sorry bout that!

**LacrymosaRules:**  
Thanks for both of your reviews, and I agree about Koji and Koichi. They always seem to fare off worst, even when they're my favs, don't they?

* * *

**Return of the Spirits**  
**Chapter Twenty Nine/Thirty**  
**You Look Young and She's Evil**

* * *

Koichi froze, staring at the small figure in front of him as she stood up. She looked like Lyra, she sounded like Lyra, heck, she could have been her little sister! But there was one difference; Lyra was not five years old.

Blinking innocently, she backed away as she noticed the amount of people surrounding her, "W-wh-who are you?"

Taking a deep breath, Koichi stepped towards her, flinching as she backed away even further, "Lyra?"

Her eyes widening, Lyra froze, her hand half-way to her pocket, where her D-Tector was probably residing, "How do you know my name?"

No one answered for a moment until Takuya cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, "You see… the thing is that you d-"

He was then cut off as Koichi clapped a hand over the brunette's mouth, shaking his head, remembering Shamanmon's warning. Sensing his twin's dilemma, Koji smiled in a reassuring way so as not to scare the five-year-old forestette, "We knew your… sister. She was a good friend of ours."

He was completely winging it - utterly unlike him - but it seemed to work, for Lyra smiled widely, "You're friends of Amanda?" When he nodded, anime sweat dropping at his sheer luck, she grinned again, "Okay! So…" Glancing around, she frowned, "Where's the pretty girl with blue hair that gave me my spirits?"

"Spirit**s**?" Katsuharu queried, gaping as Lyra nodded, pulling out her D-Tector and giving them a brief glimpse of her Beast Spirit.

"Yep! She also gave me a weird power," Lyra frowned slightly, yawning. "She said… something about fusion…"

At that moment, she fell forwards, obviously exhausted, Koichi catching her before she hit the ground. Pulling her up so that he was carrying the young girl bridal style, he glanced around, a worried look on his face, "Now what?"

* * *

Grace growled, glancing up as Leilah - followed by two others - entered her area.

"Grace, this has to stop," Leilah insisted, frowning slightly, her violet orbs filled with anger and concern.

"Yeah, isn't Leilah supposed to be the one going feral, what with the whole 'Light is good, Darkness is evil' superstition going on?" the sapphire-haired girl on Grace's sister's right joked, blushing as Leilah glared at her slightly. "Right, sorry. No time for jokes."

Glancing at the sapphirette, Grace snorted slightly, taking in the amber eyes and bright clothing - which consisted of a black-and-purple knitted cardigan, a green t-shirt, yellow shorts, green fishnet tights and matching, fingerless, elbow-length gloves with neon pink wedges. In other words, she was wearing a complete pinwheel of colours in no apparent order, making it look like she had put no care into choosing her outfit. She was easily recognisable, "Hello, Friendship. Or would you rather I call you Gabriella?"

Gabriella narrowed her eyes slightly, flicking a lock of hair over her shoulder, "**That **name is **strictly** reserved for friends."

"Well, you were the one trying to get her back on our side through humour," the girl on Leilah's left muttered, making Grace snort again.

"Hi again, Jessie. Or have you dubbed yourself Lunar now?"

"Jessie is fine," the girl muttered. Her hair was a dark brown colour with reddish-blonde highlights at the bottom while her eyes were calming pools of silvery grey. She wore a baggy, blue hoodie with a wool-lined hood, a pair of skinny jeans, grey-and-blue-striped earmuffs and a pair of matching wool gloves, which were hung around her neck. On her feet were a pair of brown, faux-fur-lined brown boots.

Narrowing her eyes in an almost playful manner, Grace giggled childishly, "I hope you're not trying to take puppy away from me again. I'm not even forcing him to do anything, and I won't, so technically, I won't be breaking any rules. He **will **come to me of his own free will."

All three guardians would have retorted, had they not been afraid that she was right and the warrior of Light **would **bend to Grace's will with even the most minimum amount of interference on her part if his siblings or his true love (sorry for corniness, but I couldn't think of another way to put it) were involved.

* * *

Lyra sighed, her eyes fluttering open as she clung tightly to the neck her arms were around. Glancing at her surroundings, she realised she was in the middle of the group of kids and teenagers that had been fighting Paildramon earlier that day. Glancing down, she also realised that she was being carried by one of the nice, raven-haired boys from earlier.

"Um… hi!" she piped up, making the boy gasp and almost drop her before he whipped his head around, ponytail almost hitting her in the face, "Lyra…" Turning back to the other boy, who was in front of him, he called out, "Koichi! Lyra's awake again!"

Responding to the name, the shorter haired of the two - Koichi apparently - gasped and ran back to the boy holding Lyra, taking her gently off of his back and setting her down on the ground, "How're you feeling?"

Lyra shrugged, raising an eyebrow slightly as one of the four girls of the group - the blonde in the pretty pink top - sighed sadly before being comforted slightly by the brunette and the ravenette. The ginger-haired girl was seemingly having a heated argument with someone who Lyra couldn't quite place as a boy or girl, because they had a ponytail and she could only see the back of them - but due to their deep voice, she guessed the person was a boy - and a boy wearing a pair of goggles on his head about his hot-headedness or something like it.

Suddenly, she frowned deeply, watching as the longer-haired ravenette winced, placing a hand on his temple, eyes squeezed shut, much to the shock of his apparent brother, "Koji? Koji, are you okay?"

Koji groaned, falling to his knees, shaking uncontrollably as he heard a childish giggle.

_~Hiya, puppy! Hope ya missed me! So, how goes the plan to get rid of kitty?~_

_Kitty? _Koji wondered before a mental image of Loweemon and JagerLoweemon looking like a lion popped into his mind. _What are you talking about, Grace? I'm not trying to get rid of my brother!_

_~Well, why not?~ _The Guardian sounded genuinely confused. _~Hasn't he caused you pain? Hasn't he hated you?~_

_N…no…_

But then memories …Duskmon… almost being killed by his own brother… watching Koichi die… all bad memories from his first journey to the digital world, popped into his head.

_~You see?~ _Grace prompted. _~Kitty wants nothing more than to hurt you!~_

_That's not true, _Koji growled, clutching his head in his hands. _I care about Koichi, and he cares about me!_

_~Oh really? Well, when was the last time kitty forgave you?~_

This time, memories came flooding through his mind, first in a slow trickle, then in raging and crashing waves.

Koichi half-yelling the house down when Koji had gotten into a fight with someone…

Koichi not talking to him when he messed up a date with him and Zoe and basically ruined any relationship the two might have ever shared…

_~Yes~ _Grace smirked slightly. _~One small mistake and he'll hate you for life.~_

"Sh-shut up… Get… get out… of my… head. It's… not… TRUE!"

As the group whipped around to see the younger twin fall to his hands and knees, panting as he struggled to stay conscious, they watched in horror as his eyes turned glassy, then blank, back to normal again, and repeating the pattern until he collapsed, exhausted.

Horror-struck, Lyra and Koichi could only stare as Koji forced himself into a standing position, growling at anyone and everyone who asked him something other than his siblings, Zoe and Amber.

"Grace…" Lyra heard Koichi mutter before running forward to his brother, only to be snapped at, which came as a surprise to everyone, Koji included.

As Koji's eyes widened as he snapped at his brother to leave him alone, he heard the childish giggle again.

_~You see, puppy? Didn't I tell you if you did something he'd hate you?~_

And looking and the expression of hurt on his elder brother's face, Koji could almost believe it.

* * *

Grace smirked as she left and hid in the furthest part of Koji's mind. It really did hurt her to see her puppy suffer, but it truly **was **for his own good.

Kitty never did treat him well. Even though puppy had only gotten into the fight to defend him, he was mad, and puppy had only tailed kitty and fairy on the… date was what she thought they called it… because dragon had practically dragged him along after several hours of convincing.

"When he sees that kitty is no good for him," Grace muttered, narrowing her eyes as puppy apologised to his brother, who nodded, albeit his eyes still contained traces of confusion and hurt. "He'll come to me, and then I'll have him back… it's the only way, and Merukimon is the only distraction good enough to get to him."

The only way to defeat kitty.

The only way to get her puppy back.

The only way.

* * *

Okay, well thanks for reading, now please review. I'm only planning on doing another roughly… ten or twenty chapters, so it's coming to a close. Pity, cause I'm actually getting to like this story again! Oh well! See ya next time!

-Kojiluvr, out


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